City of Wenatchee Director of Economic Development Steve King has been chosen as the next City of Port Townsend Public Works director, City Manager John Mauro announced last week.
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City of Wenatchee Director of Economic Development Steve King has been chosen as the next City of Port Townsend Public Works director, City Manager John Mauro announced last week.
King interviewed with the public alongside two other finalist candidates Feb. 10 and was ultimately chosen because of his personality and experience, Mauro said in an email.
“He’s fiercely dedicated to authentic public engagement, he has a track record of major collaborative accomplishments, he’s exceedingly intelligent yet admirably humble, and he has an infectious energy and enthusiasm that I know my team is eager and ready for,” he said.
King said he is excited and ready to begin in March. Right now he is closing out his work in Wenatchee while he finds a place to live in Jefferson County. He said ideally he’d like to be in the city but he understands housing is tight.
He said he is the most excited to begin meeting and working with a new set of people on issues he’s never approached before. Mauro and King both mentioned continuing street improvements and the North Beach sewer outfall as two big projects coming down the pipes in the next couple of months.
King said he understands he has a lot to learn about the community and its challenges, but that he looks forward to “drinking from the fire hydrant” of information.
At the public meet-and-greet, King said he was also looking forward to moving to the area for its abundance of recreation opportunities. He grew up in Omak and has worked and lived the majority of his life in Eastern Washington, but said he often visited family in the Poulsbo area and looks forward to returning.
King received a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Washington State University before pursuing a master’s in stormwater hydrology. After graduating, he worked for several years at a consulting firm on municipal infrastructure before taking a job with the City of Wenatchee, where he held several titles, including directors of public works and community development and most recently, the director of economic development.
Mauro said through the hiring process King demonstrated an ability to get things done while keeping a bigger picture in mind. He hopes King will be able to connect upcoming issues like the outfall, regional stormwater project, transportation improvements, the sewer outfall and the Port Townsend Paper Company water lease negotiation into larger economic development and affordability issues.
