OLYMPIA — Jay Manning, a Kitsap County native who has been state ecology director for four years, will become Gov. Chris Gregoire’s chief of staff effective Oct. 19, Gregoire announced today.
There was no word on who Manning’s successor in directing the Department of Ecology will be. The department is important in the cleanup of the Rayonier Inc. former mill site in Port Angeles as well as Puget Sound Initiative cleanup projects in Port Townsend Bay and the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
Manning, a third-generation Washingtonian from Port Orchard, has been director of the Department of Ecology since February 2005. He previously worked as an attorney in private practice and, earlier, as an assistant state attorney general when Gregoire was attorney general.
He replaces Cindy Zehnder, who announced in August her plans to step down as Gregoire’s No. 1 staff assistant.
