Search is on for interim county clerk

"Members of the Kitsap County Democratic Central Committee plan to nominate three candidates to replace departing Democratic County Clerk Dean Logan within a month.Hopefully we will be able to look at prospective nominees at our next executive board meeting, which is scheduled for right after Labor Day, said committee chairman John Morgan. If that happens, there's a possibility that the precinct committee officers could have three names in by Sept. 17. Right now, we're just waiting for the mail to come in.Democratic Central Committee members met Monday, the day Logan announced his resignation, to discuss the process of naming his successor. We've been through this before, said Morgan. There's nothing new in it.Logan was appointed clerk by the County Commissioners in early 1998, after Bob Freudenstein announced his retirement. He was elected to his own four-year term later that fall.But on Monday, Logan accepted what he called an unsolicited offer from Secretary of State Sam Reed to serve as the state director of elections. The 34-year-old expects to assume his new role in Olympia on Sept. 10.I am happy for Dean and I am happy for the citizens of Washington state because he will just be excellent, said Kitsap County Auditor Karen Flynn, who describes him as a hard-working and diligent employee. Flynn hired him three times for three positions, most recently as her chief deputy auditor before he was appointed Kitsap County Clerk.The commissioners have 60 days to appoint a clerk to complete Logan's term, which ends in 2002. The interim clerk must share Logan's Democratic Party affiliation. Logan is busy tying up loose ends at the clerk's office before heading to Olympia next month.It's a unique time in our history to be involved in the elections process on a policy level, said Logan. Especially with the recent court ruling on the state primary system and what happened during last year's presidential election. Logan plans to draw from a well of elections administration experience.He previously served as the Kitsap's elections supervisor under Flynn, and also worked as the certification and training program manager for the Secretary of State's Elections Division in the mid 1990's.That's where Logan first met Sam Reed, who worked on the program's advisory board as the Thurston County auditor. Logan said he was surprised when Reed asked him if he was interested in interviewing for a state position.A few interview later, Reed asked him to join the state administrative team.Logan couldn't refuse the chance, although he said it was still a difficult decision to leave his county post. Away from the clerk's office, Logan helped fight domestic abuse while serving with the Kitsap County Domestic Violence Task Force. Logan also pushed for the electronic storage of Superior Court files and worked with County Prosecutor Russ Hauge to turn outstanding legal fees over to a commercial collections agency. Their efforts netted an increase in legal fine and fee collections from among convicted felons.Since Logan's children attend Kitsap schools and his wife is employed in Kitsap, his family doesn't plan on moving to Thurston County in the immediate future.Asked whether he would ever consider returning to the county, Logan said he never closes doors. "

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