Within his first month at the helm of the Port of South Whidbey, Jim Pivarnik is already envisioning improvements that can be made throughout the district.

The consultant-turned-executive-director filled the vacant top position in September, bringing some needed stability to the port district. Earlier this year, negotiations with two other candidates fell through and interim directors were sought for the summer.

Pivarnik, a Port Townsend resident who makes the commute every day, said he is here to stay for at least the next two years – provided the commissioners are satisfied with his performance.

“But if tomorrow the right person walked in the door and said, ‘I really want to learn how to be a director’ and had the drive and the brains, I would walk away from this job in six months if that’s what would work,” Pivarnik said.

He attempted to retire three years ago, after a long career with the Port of Port Townsend – 19 years as deputy director and three years as executive director – and two years as the executive director for the Port of Kingston.

While the Kingston port honed its focus on maintaining one facility, a marina with a park, the Port Townsend port covered a huge area as a county-wide district and its boatyard, an industrial centerpoint, provided over 500 jobs.

In comparison, the Port of South Whidbey, a district with a smaller budget, encompasses several boat launches, the South Whidbey Harbor and the Whidbey Island Fairgrounds.

“Our facilities are nice but they’re not grand,” Pivarnik said. “But the team is grand.”

Along with staff members, he praised the port commissioners for their diverse backgrounds – Jack Ng in business, Greg Easton in engineering and Curt Gordon in construction.

“To have those three guys at your disposal to make decisions together, it’s very powerful,” Pivarnik said.

He’s supportive of the commissioners’ goals, which include two large capital projects: workforce housing and a passenger-only ferry dock.

For the past several years, the commissioners have been considering the potential of building workforce housing on top of new fairgrounds concession stands, which has been met with plenty of resistance from the community. Pivarnik himself has concerns about there being enough land and parking at the proposed site, but agreed workforce housing is an important cause to support on South Whidbey.

The other project that’s further along, the passenger-only ferry dock in Clinton, is partially funded and awaiting news of the receipt of two different grants, totaling nearly $3 million. The port is also in the process of working with the tribes that have fishing grounds in the area. Pivarnik said it’s a big goal of his to get permits, approval and money for that project.

Besides that, he hopes to see beautification efforts for the port’s facilities, which could be as simple as cutting the grass and cleaning the concrete or creating more welcoming signage at the harbor and fairgrounds.

“I really think the fairgrounds is the heart and soul of this port district, so hopefully we can do enough to maintain it and make it nice,” he said.

For right now, much of his attention lies with the budget, which is still in the review process and has not yet been approved by the commissioners.