Four months after he was named Acting Community and Economic Development (CED) Director, Bill Preston P.E. has been appointed to serve in that capacity on a permanent basis. Preston’s role as the City of Yakima CED Director was effective July 17th.
Preston began serving as acting director on March 18th, following his appointment by Interim City Manager Dave Zabell. He was named to the post permanently following a competitive application process.
“In his new role as CED director, my expectations are that Bill will lead the department to great success,” said Zabel. “He has already taken on the mantle as interim and provided solid leadership the past few months. I have every confidence that similar to what he has done throughout his career, Bill will meet and exceed all expectations.”
Joan Davenport retired after serving the City for nearly 37 years, including the past 10 years as CED Director. Her last day with the City was March 15th.
While serving as Acting CED Director, Preston continued to also serve as City Engineer for Yakima.
With Preston being named to the director post on a permanent basis, the City will begin the process of seeking a city engineer.
Prior to becoming Yakima’s city engineer in 2020, Preston was with the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) for over 28 years. During that time, he served WSDOT in multiple positions, ranging from Transportation Engineer to Maintenance and Traffic Manager and SCR Local Programs Engineer.
Click Community Development (yakimawa.gov) for more about the City of Yakima Community Development Department.
