It looks like the interim management team of Lee Walton and Stan McNutt are on their way out, and a new candidate will soon step in. The twosome, who brought to Bainbridge Island more than 90 years collective experience, deserves a salute for the turnaround they’ve put in motion in such a short time.

When Lee and Stan entered City Hall after former City Manager Mark Dombroski bolted for D.C., they found themselves in the middle of a fractured council, a depleted budget and a community that didn’t trust its representatives as far as it could throw them.

In the last six months, Walton and McNutt have worked tirelessly to fix the smorgasbord of issues at City Hall. Their accomplishments piled up quickly:

• They built and published a governance manual that replaced three existing documents, effectively streamlining the way council does business.

• They crafted a revised budget that slashed more than $1 million from the current ledger to help the city establish reserves.

• They opened the public process during council meetings by separating study sessions from business meetings, giving people the chance to talk with their elected representatives, not at them.

These things are only a snapshot of what McNutt and Walton have done for the city. The hope is that they leave a lasting impression on the next manager, who will continue to wipe away the tension-plagued era of city history of the last few years. A couple weeks ago, at a Chamber of Commerce luncheon, McNutt said it best.

“It takes vigilance to follow the rules.”

We’ve got that vigilance from the community, and in the last six months, we got that from Walton and McNutt. Hopefully the next guy continues the tradition.