Cheney hires Mark Schuller as human resources manager

Former EWU human resources associate makes move downtown after six years on the hill

By BECKY THOMAS

Staff Reporter

A week into his new job as the city of Cheney's human resources manager, the phone rang in Mark Schuller's office.

After greeting the caller he paused, listening, before he answered.

“No, Diane retired,” he said. “I'm replacing her.”

After a short conversation, he hung up.

“I get that a lot,” he said with a laugh.

Schuller is settling into the position vacated by Diane Showalter, who retired after more than 20 years with the city. He said the transition is going well, but there's a lot for him to learn.

“I've just been working through, trying to locate where all the files are, where all the information is,” he said. “I'm just learning as much as I can about the city's operation.”

The new job may offer challenges, but the geographical move was a simple one. Schuller worked at Eastern Washington University as a HR associate for six years before moving to City Hall.

“I enjoyed my time at Eastern,” he said. “There's a lot of good folks up there and I'm really appreciative of my supervisor Caren Lincoln up there and all the support she gave me.”

Schuller said he took the job at the city because it offered a broader scope of HR duties. He will work with city employees on things like benefits, continued education and performance, as well as conducting risk management, hiring, discipline and program assessment for the city.

“Everyday I'm learning that I need to learn more about certain topics,” he said.

He has plenty of time to get comfortable, since he hopes to stay in the position for the long run. After living in different parts of the country, Schuller and his wife Wendy—the head women's basketball coach at EWU—want to stick around.

“This is home and we'd like to stay here,” he said.

Becky Thomas can be reached at [email protected].