PORT ANGELES — Rob Robertsen on Jan. 2 officially takes over the reins as the county’s first elected Department of Community Development director.
It’s a move that departing hired director Bob Martin on Monday lightly likened to “switching riders on the rhinoceros.”
Martin met with county commissioners, Robertsen and other key Department of Community Development officials at a commissioners’ work session Monday in which Martin laid out what he saw as the planning and building departments’ pending issues and projects.
Robertsen, who used to work for Martin as the department’s building official, soundly defeated Martin in the November general election after an often bitter campaign that left Robertsen the state’s and the nation’s first elected county community development director.
The job oversees more than 30 employees in a department that is responsible for county planning and development.
Martin was cordial with Robertsen and the commissioners Monday, outlining a long list of work ahead for Robertsen.
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The rest of the story appears in the Tuesday Peninsula Daily News.