Bellingham Finance Director John Carter will leave his position with the city in mid-August to become the chief financial officer for the Port of Everett.

Carter, 58, grew up in Everett where his father worked at the Simpson Pulp and Paper Mill on the Snohomish River.

“I am very excited to work for the Port of Everett, a great organization with outstanding opportunities,” Carter said, in a press release. “To do so in a place where I have deep family roots is an added bonus.”

Carter’s career has taken him across the country and then back to the Pacific Northwest, where he first worked in private business, then for many years at the Port of Bellingham (1990-2007), before being appointed as the city’s finance director in January 2008.

He was the first finance director to be appointed instead of elected, after voters in 2007 approved a city charter amendment that gave appointment power to the mayor, with City Council approval.

Carter succeeded former elected finance director, Therese Holm, when her second term was complete at the end of 2007.

The finance director serves as a key member of the city’s executive management team, responsible for providing financial stewardship of the city’s resources and managing the city’s finance and business operations.

Bellingham mayor Kelli Linville said Carter’s financial strategy and guidance had been invaluable to her administration and the city as a while, according to a statement released by the city.

“I am very grateful for his service to the city, and will miss his contributions to our management team and his honest, straightforward, highly ethical advice,” the mayor said.

An interim director should be named by the mayor shortly, and a recruitment and selection process for a permanent finance director will begin as soon as possible, according to the city.