Dusty Wiley, 52, a veteran of 31 years with Kitsap County, has announced his intention to take on incumbent county commissioner Charlotte Garrido in the September primary election. Wiley will run as a Democrat.

Running as a Republican, Wiley narrowly lost the post to Garrido in 1996. Although he actually beat her in the South Kitsap district where the primary is held, Garrido bested Wiley in the countywide general election. It was the vote from Bainbridge Island that pushed Garrido into office.

A native of Kitsap County and a graduate of South Kitsap schools, Wiley grew up in Manchester and still makes his home there. He has worked for Kitsap County for over 31 years, and currently holds the position of Traffic Operations Supervisor in the Public Works Department.

When Wiley assumed his present position in 1990, the county faced millions of dollars in pending lawsuits, due to traffic accidents and concerns about traffic safety. Since that time he has worked to learn the cause of accidents and also to evaluate traffic hazards in an effort to prevent future accidents.

Wiley’s education in the critical transportation areas including study at the University of Washington, U.S. Department of Transportation, Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission, Northwestern University and Washington Counties Risk Pool, have all helped in that effort.

His civic involvement has been heavily in the fire protection area. Wiley was elected Fire District 7 Commissioner in 1993 and 1995 and served as Vice President of the county fire commissioners from 1995-97. Since then he has served as president of the county fire commissioners for the past three years and continues in that post.

According to Wiley, new challenges and new opportunities face the next South Kitsap Commissioner. He wants to make county government more accessible, responsive and user-friendly. Wiley says he is intrigued by the proposal for Charter Government and he will follow that movement with great interest this fall.

Wiley may be reached at 360) 871-0723 or dustywiley@earthlink.com.