TULALIP — Steve Gobin has been appointed as interim general manager of Quil Ceda Village in the wake of John McCoy’s resignation, but his new position is not a permanent one.

“There will be an open competition for this job,” Gobin said July 23. “We’ll probably open it up next month or the month after.”

In the meantime, Gobin is seeking to redefine the operations of Quil Ceda Village to reflect its growth since it started. Its administration has expanded significantly since it began with only three Tribal employees, and Gobin sees the need for Quil Ceda Village to develop municipal functions similar to those of the city of Marysville.

“Our administration can’t be as centralized with as big as we are,” Gobin said. “I’m looking to disperse duties among executive directors. The economic development activity that’s been set by past Tribal Boards and Village Councils, though, is not changing.”

Gobin noted that only a third of the Tribes’ 2,000 acres of property along the Interstate-5 corridor have been developed, and as such, if given the opportunity, he hopes to focus on “more intense development,” coupled with promotions of Quil Ceda Village and the Tulalip Resort as travel destinations.

“John’s been very active in that,” Gobin said of McCoy. “He’ll probably continue to be, just in a different partnership.”

Gobin credits his own transition from managing health care to working in government affairs to McCoy’s support.

“I enjoyed working for him,” said Gobin, who did so for nearly nine years. “He treated me like a partner, not just like an employee. He understood people’s skills and strengths. He was a good manager. As his legislative career got rolling, he was gone longer and longer, so I became his second-in-command.”

Even as McCoy exits his former role, Gobin made it clear that he still has “nothing but the utmost respect” for his old boss.

“I’m just an administrator,” Gobin laughed. “John is a visionary.”