SOUTH BEND Pacific County administrative officer Bryan Harrison will accept the position of city administrator for Burlington and begin work there at the end of August, he said Monday, July 25. 

Pacific County has given me incredible opportunities and I am grateful to have worked here for almost 23 years, but the time is right for me and my family to move on, Harrison said.

This is a natural progression in my career. We will be closer to my wifes parents, who live in Seattle, and our two boys Bryan Jr. and Tommy will be in the eighth grade, so we felt this would be the time to make a move, Harrison related. His wife, Carol, is a middle school teacher in South Bend. The couples oldest daughter, Andrea, will be attending graduate school at the University of Houston.

Harrison earned a Bachelor of Science degree in environmental health from the University of Washington in 1983 and a masters in public administration from The Evergreen State College in 1990. Harrison began his career as environmental health specialist in Thurston County in 1983 and took the position of assistant director of health and human services in Pacific County in 1988, moving up to director in 1991. In 1992 Harrison became director of community development and in 2004 was elevated to county administrative officer, a post he has served well the past eight years.

It is disappointing to see Bryan leave Pacific County. He has always been a great employee and we all wish him the very best, Commissioner Bud Cuffel said.

Burlingtons Mayor Ed Brunz told the Skagit Valley Herald, Harrison is a positive person and I think everybody needs that right now. In the article, Burlington Councilman Chris Loving described Harrison as very capable, having dealt with issues such as shoreline management, contract negotiations, and housing authority issues, things we will be dealing with here.

Harrison said, I will have the challenge of meeting new people, organizing my work schedule, and the biggest challenge will be to solve budget constraints. I will be defining the new position as it has been vacant for about a year. Mayor Brunz said, We did not consider candidates for the post of city administrator until city sales tax revenues appeared to be on an upswing.

Burlington finance director Greg Thramer said the city is on track to have $500,000 more in sales tax revenue by the end of the year. Loving said there were 60 applicants for the position that Thramer said had a salary range of between $116,335 and $130,937.