Joshua Cummings believes the last 11 years of work in Thurston County have been a job interview for his new role as the county’s assistant manager.
Cummings, the current Community Planning and Economic Development (CPED) director, was promoted to assistant county manager Friday, Aug. 23, as Robin Campbell announced her retirement after 41 years of public service in the state and county. He began his tenure in Thurston County in February of 2013 as a sustainability specialist before becoming the economic development manager in January of 2016 and then the CPED director in September of 2017.
Cummings described the opportunity to continue serving his community in a new capacity as a privilege, and he is looking forward to absorbing knowledge from Campbell as they work together until her retirement at the end of the year. He will work alongside fellow assistant county manager Rob Gilder in overseeing the departments and internal services for the county.
“From my perspective, the Board of County Commissioners brought on this county manager [Leonard Hernandez] to build Thurston County government in a manner that services the community, and I am on board with that vision,” Cummings said. “One of the things that I understood from the discussion from the Board of County Commissioners and the county manager was the success that our team has had over the past years was a clear indicator of the opportunities for next steps.”
Cummings, who also serves as a board member of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Thurston County, said his goals for the new role are to be responsive to the Board of County Commissioners and to continue the balance of protecting the environment and providing opportunities for business and housing.
“My goal is service. I think that good public service is one of the key factors in a good social system,” Cummings said. “In some of the successes when I first came on board, I’ve been privileged to have great teams. We tackled the comprehensive plan that was tardy and needed to be submitted to commerce, and it got approved under the leadership of myself with a great team. That had been past due for about six years. We were the first in Washington state to address the Hirst decision with the WRIA watershed plan. We got an approved habitat conservation plan after we submitted four different drafts to the federal government, and to date, we have processed over 315 HCP permits.”
Cummings announced Ashley Arai as the interim director for CPED while he adjusts to his new role. He said that she brings a depth of planning experience and a community-oriented demeanor to the department.
“What sold me is that she has a perspective that is about caring for the community, and she has a vast professional experience in both the public and private sectors in planning,” he said. “She’s worked in large jurisdictions and small jurisdictions. Watching her work with our team over the past couple of years has been fruitful. She was one of the lead folks in re-engaging our agriculture community in the south county and really standing up implementation of some of our big programs related to agriculture.”
The future of Thurston County is in good hands under the leadership of the Board of County Commissioners and the county manager, Cummings said. He added that he is optimistic about the direction of the county, and that residents should be as well.
“If we respect the direction of the Board of County Commissioners, and if we engage with our community in a thoughtful manner to get their input and perspectives, I remain extremely optimistic,” Cummings said. “I think we’ve got some big projects on the horizon, but as long as we are coordinated and communicating, I think we’re going to have success.”
