Democrat Dave Peterson, was recently named as the unanimous choice of Kitsap County commissioners to replace former clerk Dean Logan. Logan resigned in September to take a job with the state elections office in Olympia.

The clerk’s position is one of six elected department heads in county government, and is the record keeper for the superior courts. It maintains all the case files and other court records.

The resident of Lone Rock in Central Kitsap, won the recommendation of the county Democratic Party and according to the county commissioners was the best of three candidates to succeed Logan. The other applicants were Susan Daniels who left her law practice to run a youth mentoring program, and Shirley Johnson, an employee of the clerk’s office.

The clerk’s job pays $81,700 a year. The 58 year-old Peterson, who ran for the legislature 20 years ago and was defeated in the 1998 primary by Commissioner Tim Botkin for the Central Kitsap commission seat, said he will run in 2002 to keep the clerk’s job.

Peterson was a founder and past president of the Central Kitsap community council, of which he still is a member and has worked on many local Democratic campaigns over the years.

He is also retired from the Central Kitsap School District, where he was a teacher, librarian, and technology and library program administrator.