Bellingham Mayor Kim Lund announced today, Tuesday, May 27, that she has appointed Joel Pfundt as the City’s Director of Public Works and Mike Olinger as Deputy Director of Public Works, effective immediately. Pfundt and Olinger have served as interim co-directors since July 2024. Combined, the two leaders bring decades of experience in transportation planning, utilities and public facilities management, public policy development, and executive leadership to these key City positions.
“We initiated a nationwide search for a new Public Works director with a highly competitive applicant pool, and I’m confident that the exceptional leadership we need is already here,” said Mayor Lund. “Joel and Mike have proven themselves as capable leaders in their interim roles. They share my vision for Bellingham and will help us in our journey from small town to thriving mid-sized city. They have the skills, experience and aptitude to lead the Public Works department into the future, and I’m delighted they’ve accepted these new roles.”
Public Works is the City’s largest department with responsibility for transportation planning and engineering; traffic and street maintenance; drinking water, sewer and stormwater management; natural resources programs; parking; and solid waste. With such a large portfolio of work, Mayor Lund chose to add a Deputy Director role to the Public Works leadership team to provide additional and more efficient executive management, enabling more focused oversight of key operational areas and accelerating progress on critical city initiatives.
“Joel and Mike make an excellent team,” Mayor Lund said. “While sharing leadership responsibilities as co-directors, they’ve shown tremendous teamwork and collaboration and the ability to leverage one another’s strengths. Together, they demonstrate a community-forward approach, and I know that this new leadership model for Public Works will succeed as they distribute responsibilities in their new roles.”
Joel Pfundt: Public Works Director
Pfundt joined the City in June 2023 as the Assistant Director of Public Works for Transportation, a role that brought him back to Bellingham, the community where he grew up and attended Western Washington University to earn a bachelor’s degree in urban and regional planning. A Certified Transportation Planner (AICP CTP), he brings extensive experience in transportation and public works management. Prior to his current service, he spent seven years as the transportation manager for the City of Kirkland, where he oversaw traffic operations, engineering, planning, and development review for a growing city. Before that, he spent nearly 15 years with the City of Redmond, managing complex multimodal corridor studies, transit center projects, and pedestrian and bicycle programs, and coordinating with Sound Transit on light rail expansion.
Mayor Lund noted that Pfundt stands out as a leader who is committed to community, understands long-term planning and thoughtful city-building, has experience from other mid-sized and larger Washington cities, and leads with humility and heart.
Mike Olinger: Public Works Deputy Director
Olinger brings nearly three decades of dedicated service to the City of Bellingham’s Public Works Department, with comprehensive experience gained from the ground up. He began his tenure with the City as a utilities worker, progressing through roles as a senior construction inspector and construction manager, where he oversaw capital projects and ensured quality construction. For seven years, he served as the Operations Superintendent of Maintenance, overseeing critical functions including street, stormwater, water distribution, sewer collection, solid waste, and asset management. Most recently, he held the position of Assistant Director of Public Works for Operations since March 2020, responsible for the planning, organizing, and directing of the department’s extensive operations divisions. This extensive career, combined with his service as an Aircraft Mechanic in the United States Marine Corps and his academic background including a Master of Business Administration and a Bachelor of Science, underpins his invaluable understanding of Bellingham’s infrastructure and its operational needs. His practical expertise perfectly balances Joel Pfundt’s strategic planning background, creating a well-rounded leadership team for Public Works.
