Interviews for CDPD director underway

Five finalists will compete for the county Community Development and Planning Department director job and the selection process got underway earlier this week.

On Monday, two candidates were interviewed by two groups of county officials in a series of meetings at the county courthouse. The remaining three candidates are slated to be interviewed on Thursday.

Interviewed Monday were Bo Bricklemyer, a resident of Port Townsend and president of Aquatics Resources Conservation Group, and Mia Waters, a program manager with the Washington State Department of Transportation. Raymond Miller, former city administrator of Barnesville, Minn., Carl Smith, city planner with Woodinville, and Ronald Henrickson, former county administrator with Franklin County, Kansas, will be interviewed Tuesday.

The new CDPD director will replace Matthew Zybas, manager of the county solid-waste division, who took over the department in May following the resignation of Stephen Amsbaugh and ouster of former deputy director Francine Shaw. Zybas, who recently declined the job as a permanent assignment, will resume his former role with the county after a director is selected.

Created two years ago, CDPD has 16 employees and an assortment of consultants to help fulfill its long-range planning tasks. The department, created through the merger of the permit center and long-range planning division, is expected to generate about $908,000 in revenue next year and incur roughly $1.1 million in expenses.

The selection of a new director rests with the County Commission, which, along with deputy clerk Lil Hamel, are one of the two interview panels. The commission will have the recommendation from each member of the two panels to weigh in making its decision, the date of which has yet to be determined.

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