He holds a Masters in Public Administration from Troy University in Alabama, a Masters in Education from Oregon State University and a B.A. in Political Science from the University of California, Davis.

Prior to joining Lewis County, Keeton, 55, retired from the U.S. Army as a Garrison Commander at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, a position equivalent to that of a City Manager.

DCD is tasked with overseeing planning and zoning, building permits, code enforcement, natural resources and critical areas protection, as well as the Fire Marshall’s office. Keeton, who started work on Nov. 27 and will make $101,732 a year, has his work cut out for him, overseeing the department’s 87 employees and $7.4 million annual budget.

He is the fourth DCD chief hired in the last five years to lead a department plagued with personnel turnover and other staffing problems, including difficulty filling senior planning positions and other slots. Because of the ongoing turmoil, and poor pay, working at Kitsap County DCD has come to be considered by many in professional planning circles as a career step backwards and the job of last resort.

Additionally, many of DCD’s customers, primarily builders and developers, believe the department has been out of control for years — a view also shared by several members of the Planning Commission, which interfaces with DCD by serving as an advisory group for the county commissioners, primarily on growth and planning issues.

Critics chiefly complain of unreasonable delays in permit processing, unresponsiveness from staff, and arbitrary enforcement of rules and regulations, often depending on which staffer is making a decision on what issue. Getting two different decisions from two different DCD employees on similar, and sometimes the very same situation, is not exactly unheard of.

In what has seemingly been a revolving door position, Keeton replaces Cindy Baker who was terminated in January after just barely a year as director and after overseeing the highly controversial Critical Areas Ordinance process. Baker was originally hired by and served as assistant director under Kamuron Gurol.

Gurol replaced Bruce Freeland who retired after about three years on the job and was hired when longtime DCD director Ron Perkerewicz was forced out.

Gurol left abruptly after less than a year on the job under somewhat mysterious circumstances, but openly rumored to involve a personal relationship with another DCD employee.

The selection of Keeton and three other finalists out of the more than 40 from across the nation who applied for the job, was done without public notice or process. There will also be no announcement concerning who applied and wasn’t hired.

In contrast, when Gurol was hired a nationwide search was instituted and there were numerous community stakeholders involved in the interview process. At one point, 16 of the 19 stakeholders recommended not hiring any of the applicants and starting the entire process over again. That suggestion was angrily nixed by Commissioner Chris Endresen who favored hiring Gurol.

Since Baker’s departure, interim assistant directors Jeff Rowe-Hornbaker and Jim Bolger have run the department on a day-to-day basis.

Keeton is pragmatic and realistic about the challenges facing the DCD, and is also no stranger to political turmoil and hardball politics. In August, he saw his job in Lewis County eliminated in what can only be described as a political power struggle. One commissioner, who had been appointed, not elected, persuaded one of the other two that Keeton wasn’t needed, claiming county department heads were unhappy with him positioned between them and the commissioners. That same appointed commissioner lost his job in the November election, with the two candidates advocating restoring the chief of staff position being elected — and one of them beating the appointee.

County Administrator Cris Gears introduced Keeton as the new DCD director to assembled employees on Nov. 17. He said that Keeton is, “an ideal match for what you folks and the community will want and need.”

Gears commended Rowe-Hornbaker and Bolger, as well as singling out Carol Mackie of the county personnel department, for praise as well. It was Mackie who persuaded the commissioners to allow her to lead an in-house search for candidates instead of hiring an outside firm, as the county has done in the past.

“Larry is strong leader who has a rock-solid experience in effectively managing people and projects,” commented Gears. “He is passionate about customer service and accountability, and is well aware of the challenges and opportunities he will face as the new DCD director.”

“We were looking for a dynamic and talented leader to serve as the county’s Community Development Director,” said County Commission Chair Jan Angel, “and with Mr. Keeton, we feel we have achieved that goal.”

“I’m excited about this position. My background is in strategic planning and streamling and improving business processes, so I feel I’m a good fit for Kitsap County at this point in time,” he stated. “I’m a pragmatist, not an ideologue, and that’s what the commissioners said they were looking for when they hired me.”

Keeton has said he will move to Kitsap County within six months.