The San Juan County Council has confirmed County Administrator Pete Rose’s appointment of Frank Mulcahy of Groton, Conn., as the new head of the County’s Public Works Department.

Mulcahy has just concluded a career of more than 20 years with the U.S. Navy. His most recent assignment was as Public Works Director of the Navy’s submarine base in New London, Conn.

The San Juan County position came open in April of this year when Jon Shannon stepped down after serving as Public Works Director for eight years.

In all, 36 candidates were reviewed by the county administrator, staff, and consultant Lynn Stokesbary of the Prothman Company of Issaquah.

Five finalists were invited to attend a three-day interview process, which began Sept. 8. Participants included members of the community, a council representative, members of the public works management team, three department heads and the county administrator.

The newly affirmed Public Works Director holds a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Virginia Military Institute and a Masters in Construction Management from the University of Washington.

Some of the positions Mulcahy held during his career in the Navy included crisis response operations engineering team leader in Italy; staff action officer for economic development in Iraq; and construction and contracts director – Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Virginia.

Rose said he was impressed with the breadth of Mulcahy’s experience.

During the interview process, Rose said, “I knew Mr. Mulcahy had the requisite skills to work with us islanders when he gave the example of a successful experience he had negotiating a new road that required the agreement of both Serbians and Albanians.”

The San Juan County Public Works director oversees the county’s largest department with 65 full-time employees and a budget of approximately $13 million. The department’s responsibilities include maintaining the county’s roads, running the stormwater and solid waste utilities; coordinating engineering; purchasing and maintaining the county’s fleet of cars, trucks, heavy equipment and boats, and maintaining county buildings and properties.

As they approved the hiring of the new public works director, the council formally thanked department veteran Russ Harvey for his service as acting public works director during an eventful and challenging past five months for the department.

Mulcahy’s official start date is Oct. 17. At that time, Harvey will return to his position as public works operations manager.