The City of Sequim has hired David Garlington as the city engineer and assistant public works director. Garlington started April 25.

He is a licensed professional engineer and for 20 years worked in the Design/Construction Department of the Washington State Department of Transportation in Port Angeles.

The past seven years he was assistant project engineer; he helped manage and organize a staff of 23 designers, inspectors, surveyors and support personnel and served as contract manager of construction projects worth $10 million in 2010.

Public Works Director Paul Haines said he is thrilled Garlington accepted the job.

“Hiring David will let us move forward on the capital improvement needs of the city,” Haines said. “He will also be a key player in the development review process.”

Garlington mostly will be involved in the capital improvement program, implementation of Transportation Benefits District projects, developing a roads preservation plan, rethinking transportation and the Utility Master Plans.

“It gives me a second-in-command, so that when I’m away, he can give some guidance for the department,” Haines said. “When I got here, there was no other management structure. Now there are divisions overseen by managers.”

The city engineer position has been vacant since Bill Bullock left the city in 2008. Haines said he speculates the position has been vacant because there has been some turnover in city staff management and managers had not been employed long enough to make a hiring decision. Garlington’s salary is $84,000 a year.