SEQUIM — Lary Coppola resigned as executive director of the North Peninsula Building Association because of the long commute from Kitsap County, he said Thursday.
Coppola, a former Port Orchard mayor, was hired to lead the Sequim-based association in late July.
He resigned Oct. 15.
“The reason that I left, or resigned, is that the commute just got to be too much,” Coppola said in a voice mail message.
150 miles round-trip
“For me, it was a 150-mile-a-day commute and just hard on my family. I have a 10-year-old, and it was just hard on all of my family.”
He added: “There’s nothing more to it than that.”
North Peninsula Building Association board President Garret DelaBarre said Wednesday that the organization is advertising for the executive director’s position. He declined further comment on Coppola’s resignation.
Coppola told the Kitsap Sun that the split from the builders association left “no hard feelings on either side.”
“They understand,” he said. “They’re good people.”
Ran for mayor
Coppola was defeated by five votes in the 2011 Port Orchard mayoral race.
He told the Sun that he has applied for other jobs closer to his Manchester home.
The North Peninsula Building Association represents builders and people connected to the building industry on the North Olympic Peninsula.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
