PORT ANGELES — Steve Burke is the William Shore Memorial Pool District’s new executive director.
The district’s five commissioners unanimously adopted his employment contract Tuesday.
Burke, who served on the district’s advisory committee, will earn $30,000 a year and work at least 20 hours per week.
He will be responsible for running the William Shore Memorial Pool, developing a capital facilities plan for the facility and expanding pool programs.
Previously, the director was a full-time employee who earned $60,000 a year and was focused more on the day-to-day management of the pool.
The commissioners of the district – which took over ownership of the facility from the city of Port Angeles in June 2009 — opted last August to hand over most of those tasks to the pool’s two supervisors and have the director focus more on expanding pool programs and increasing attendance.
Burke, 45, replaces former director Jayna Lafferty, who resigned last month. Lafferty had run the pool since July 2007 but had the title of interim director while working for the district.
The commissioners had planned to open up the position to applicants before she resigned. Lafferty declined to apply due to the drop in pay and hours.
One of nine applicants
Burke was one of nine applicants.
He said he plans to schedule meetings shortly with organizations that use the pool, such as the Port Angeles School District, to see how programs can be expanded.
“We have the ability to be very creative because we don’t have a large budget,” Burke said.
He is the former owner of a pool construction company and has a bachelor’s degree in public administration.
Also at the meeting, the commissioners approved a $547,740 budget for 2011 that includes a property tax levy rate that will remain stagnant at 14.85 cents per $1,000 assessed valuation.
While the rate will remain the same, the district is expected to receive $10,000 less in tax revenue due to dropping property values.
The tax applies to all property owners within the district’s boundary, which is the same as the school district’s.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
