Post Falls names public services director

POST FALLS - Russ Connole has been named the public services director for the city of Post Falls.

Connole, who will start at the city on Jan. 20, will replace Terry Werner, who retired in October after 29 years at the city.

He will oversee the Public Services Department's two divisions: The Public Works Division and the Community Development Division.

The Public Works Division consists of streets, water, water reclamation, surface water, fleet services and facility maintenance. The Community Development Division consists of building, engineering and planning.

Connole has 21 years of experience in local government.

He is currently the community development director for West Richland, Wash. In that position, he brought the Yakima River Gateway Project to life for a regional community trail system along the Yakima River.

He previously worked for Spokane County, where he served as chairman of the 18-city and six-county Eastern Washington Stormwater Coordinators Group.

He worked on infrastructure projects, the Spokane River water quality cleanup project and several state-level policy development committees.