PORT ORCHARD — Port Orchard City Council member Scott Diener, who was appointed to Position 3 following Rob Putaansuu’s election as mayor in November 2015, stated in a news release May 1 that he plans to run for a full term.

Diener was appointed to the council Jan. 12, 2016. He is manager of Development Services and Engineering for Kitsap County’s Department of Community Development.

A resident of Port Orchard since 2006, Diener is married with two young children.

Diener is chairman of the Land Use Committee and a member of the Utilities Committee and Sewer Advisory Committee with West Sound Utility District. He also serves as a City Council alternate on the Kitsap Economic Development Alliance and the Puget Sound Regional Council Growth Management Policy Board.

Diener pointed to his leadership in land use and development discussions with the City Council during his time as a board member. “With the adoption of the City Comprehensive Plan in 2016, our path forward and what the city should be working on, is transparent, clearly laid out and, for the most part, is easy to understand,” Diener said.

Diener said he believes the City Council is on track to secure transportation funds, which Diener said is its top priority.

“The growth of Port Orchard and its surrounding areas has increasingly shown that transportation improvements are needed, and that can only come with fruitful council discussion and public involvement, good fiscal and project administration, successful grant applications, lobbying and good bi-partisan relations with Olympia,” he said.

“Our key travel corridors are seeing more and more traffic, not only from people discovering and moving to Port Orchard but also from regional growth just outside city limits. This will require careful consideration and prioritization.”

Diener said Port Orchard’s downtown is a key priority for the council. “We are fortunate to have an idyllic waterfront setting,” he said. “I am very hopeful that we can work with major landowners to consider their impact on a lively and successful downtown destination,” he said in the news release.