Bellingham Mayor Mark Asmundson announced March 13th that Tim Stewart has been appointed director of Bellingham’s Planning and Community Development Department.
Stewart has an extensive planning background, including serving as the City of Shoreline, Washington’s first Planning and Development Services Director after the city of more than 53,000 incorporated in 1995. He left Shoreline in September of 2005 to serve as a visiting lecturer in land use and government decision making at Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia, where his wife, Rose is also teaching as a Fulbright Scholar.
“I am very pleased to be coming to Bellingham, a city with great neighborhoods and passionate citizens,” Stewart said. “I look forward to learning how I can help Bellingham build a future that is as good as its past.”
Stewart replaces former director Jorge Vega, who moved to Georgia last December to be closer to family. City officials launched a national search for a new director, a position Asmundson said is “among the most important we have filled in decades.”
“Our emphasis in the search was quality, hiring the best, most highly qualified director we could attract, and we found that in Tim Stewart,” he said.
City Council member and Planning Committee Chair Joan Beardsley said “Stewart is a very experienced planning professional who understands the importance of public process and is committed to working with people.”
Southside resident Ralph Thacker, president of the Association of Bellingham Neighborhoods, said “the recruitment and evaluation process was excellent in every way and the Mayor had a very difficult choice to make among highly qualified candidates.”
The extensive recruitment and selection process included meeting with key stakeholder groups, consulting with City Council and Planning Commission members, community leaders and neighborhood representatives, and including them on candidate interview panels.
The Director of Planning and Community Development reports to the Mayor, serves as a member of the city’s executive management team, and manages the department’s 51 full-time staff. The department is responsible for development review and regulation, comprehensive planning, environmental planning and resource protection, integrated development services, neighborhood projects, downtown services and city center development, tourism, housing and community development block grants.
“The city's planning priorities are to protect quality of life,” Asmundson said, “protect our environmental resources, promote healthy, distinctive neighborhoods, and involve citizens in decisions that affect them.” He said Stewart will facilitate the development of a community vision, to make sure we preserve and enhance the things we love about Bellingham.
Asmundson said Stewart is a skilled Planning and Community Development Director with extensive knowledge and experience in local and regional governance, land use planning, community involvement, collaborative decision making, community and infrastructure development, public administration, and customer service.
Prior to beginning his visiting professorship in Ethiopia, Stewart was for seven years the Director of Planning and Development Services for the City of Shoreline, population more than 53,000. He helped build the newly incorporated city “from scratch,” including developing and implementing the city’s first comprehensive plan, first development code, first code enforcement program, and first permit processing system. He also served for seven years as the Director of Planning for City of Lincoln/Lancaster County in Nebraska, population 213,641; held various planning positions in Fitchburg, Massachusetts and has taught planning courses at the University of Washington.
Stewart will return to the U.S. in May. He will begin no later than May 22, and will be paid $106,128 per year.
Posted: March 13, 2006
