A new face will soon be running the day-to-day operations of the Port of Coupeville.

After a round of interviews, the commissioners for the Port of Coupeville recently named Tim McDonald as executive director for the small port district that oversees operations at the Coupeville Wharf and the Greenbank Farm.

McDonald will start his position as executive director Dec. 1 and will work alongside current Executive Director Jim Patton for one month. That way McDonald can familiarize himself with the port’s operations before Patton’s contract expires.

McDonald has a long history of working in Island County government. He was the director of health and human services from 1987-2008. He was most recently the director of the division of communicable diseases and emergency preparedness for the Snohomish Health District.

“There were so many interesting projects the port is involved with,” McDonald said about his decision to apply for the position.

He described the Coupeville Wharf and the Greenbank Farm as “jewels.”

“They’re just fantastic facilities,” McDonald said.

He was one of three people who applied to fill Patton’s spot as port director. Bill Larsen, a drug and alcohol counselor and a port commissioner candidate in the November election, and Bruce Bottolfson also applied for the job.

The port commissioners interviewed the three candidates before unanimously selecting McDonald for the position last month.

“Of all the candidates, he was the most knowledgeable,” Commissioner Marshall Bronson said.

He noted that McDonald is familiar with local government and knows the port’s operations because he has been a fixture at the commissioner meetings.

While McDonald will spend one month working with Patton learning about the day-to-day duties of the position, he’s planning to get a head start and begin educating himself about the job right away.

“Between now and then, I’m going to be learning a lot about the position,” McDonald said.