PORT TOWNSEND — Recruiting efforts to find an executive director for the Economic Development Council of Jefferson County are beginning again after the original appointee changed his mind about accepting the position.

The council’s executive committee, during a meeting Tuesday, outlined the parameters of the new search, which it wants to last no longer than two months.

Finding a new executive director became necessary when Vic Grassman, a Wisconsin business educator, turned down the position he’d already accepted.

Grassman cited his elderly mother’s failing health as the reason he rejected the job he had accepted in mid-May.

Executive committee members voted against offering the position to Michael Brennan, former Bellingham/Whatcom County Chamber of Commerce director, who was second to Grassman in the original selection process.

Brennan and others who were among the finalists for the position will be notified of the opening and invited to submit updated resumes, according to Lloyd Cahoon, council president.