The City of Auburn last week announced interim planning director Kevin Snyder as the permanent planning and development director.

The City hired Snyder in September 2008 to be the assistant planning director under then director Cindy Baker, and he assumed duties as interim director in December 2009.

“He has done an outstanding job,” Auburn Mayor Pete Lewis said in making the announcement. “I am very pleased with his efforts.”

“I am humbled and honored by this opportunity,” Snyder said. “I look forward to this opportunity to work with the mayor and City Council and community to continue the success of the department and the City.

“I work with a group of very talented, honest and hard-working individuals,” Snyder added.

Before coming to Auburn, Snyder worked in Vancouver, Wash., where he was the director of planning services and principal planner for the consulting firm of Maul Foster and Alongi, Inc., starting the firm’s first corporate business line of service, overseeing corporate operations, business and management, and project management for public and private sector projects. He also worked for two years as the director of the newly formed community development department for the City of Ridgefield, Wash., was the first current planning manager for the newly incorporated City of Spokane Valley and served as senior planner for the cities of Beaverton, Ore. and Battle Ground, Wash.

He received his bachelor of arts in political science from Linfield College, and his masters in urban and regional planning from Portland State University.

Snyder has more than 16 years of planning experience, is certified by the American Institute of Certified Planners, and is a member of the American Planning Association’s, National, Washington and Oregon Chapters.