By Ruth Longoria’ email=’Ruth.Longoria@mi-reporter.com

Starting his new job with the City of Mercer Island was like coming home for Charles “Chip” Corder. Corder, the city’s new finance director, lived on the Island from 1991 to 1993, but now lives in North Bend. He’s excited to spend time here once again. “I love the Island. I didn’t grow up here, but I love the place,” Corder said. He is also content to remain in the Northwest. “This is the longest I’ve ever lived anywhere. This is home to me.” Forty-two-year-old Corder replaces Joanne Sylvis, who retired last month after handling the city’s finances for the last 22 years. Family is important to Corder, who is looking forward to spending more time with his wife, Kirby; their daughter, Kelly, 6; and son, Kevin, 2; and balancing family time as well as the city’s finances. “I worked a lot of hours, sometimes 70 a week, at my last job, so this should be a more structured work week,” he said.

Corder comes to the Island from Kirkland, where he worked for about 10 years, moving up from being that city’s financial analyst and senior financial analyst, to financial planning manager. Prior to that, Corder worked for one year with the city of Bainbridge Island. City Manager Rich Conrad has known Corder for several years, through Corder’s work for the city of Kirkland. Conrad said he is delighted to have Corder on staff here.

“Chip brings a long history of great financial analysis skills from the city of Kirkland. He’s been exposed to a full range of municipal, financial and accounting tasks,” Conrad said. “The fact that Kirkland and Mercer Island have a kinship as an organization and a community helps us to know he’ll turn out to be a great fit for our staff, our council and our citizens.” Corder was born in Alexandria, Va., and, because his father was in the military, spent his early years moving on a fairly regular basis. He enjoys the temperate, often rainy weather of the Northwest, since much of his early years was spent in the desert cities of Las Vegas, Nev., and Phoenix, Ariz. He graduated from Las Vegas’ Bishop Gorman Catholic High School in 1981 and earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Brigham Young University in 1988. He also earned a master’s in public administration from that school in 1990. Corder then taught graduate school classes in public budgeting and management assistance at the university for one year. Although he enjoyed teaching, it didn’t provide the passion he was seeking. “My heart really was in city management, and I love digging into finances,” he said. Corder moved to the state of Washington in 1991. While working on Bainbridge Island, he lived on Mercer Island. But he said the commute was too time consuming, so he took a job with the city of Kirkland. Corder married in 1993. He and his wife, who moved to the Seattle area from Casper, Wyo., met while attending church at Bellevue’s 8th Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The family now attends the North Bend LDS Ward together.

Corder considers one of his strengths to be his ability to see the good in people and things. Although he credits his parents and lifestyle with instilling in him a respect for diversity, his optimism for life and mankind is part of his genetic makeup, he said. “I was wired for this at birth. I love to get to know people, of all races and religions, and learn from them. When you get to know people you see there’s something good in everyone.” Corder likes to run, swim, hike and be outdoors. He also enjoys cooking Italian and Mexican foods and baking what he calls”the best chocolate chip cookies ever.” His passion for family, finance and food can’t, however, be eclipsed by his love of baseball and the Mariners. In addition to a prominently displayed Mariners Safeco Field snow globe on one wall, a small book of baseball trivia is set out for office visitors to browse. He also enjoys reading Harry Potter books, which, he said, teach lessons in values and making choices.

Finding options and making good choices are a big part of his new job, he said. “I like finding out how you fund something. In different cities you have different options. We on the Island are heavily dependent on property taxes. But each city has its own choices and values that come into play. There’s not a right or wrong answer always, and sometimes you need to break the rules. It all depends on what you value and want to fund.” And, as with life, it’s about finding a balance, he said. “One of the things I love about Mercer Island is its rich blend of great people and quality of life. There’s a real opportunity here for a balanced life.”