Ernst “Fritz” von Ibsch has been appointed to fill a seat on the board of fire commissioners for the Bainbridge Island Fire Department.
The board selected von Ibsch from a narrowed field of three candidates at their last meeting in May. The new commissioner was sworn into office on June 9.
Five people originally applied for the Position 4 seat, which was left vacant after Eileen McSherry resigned in late March because of longer days and more unpredictable workloads at her current job.
A former resident of California, von Ibsch has lived on Bainbridge Island since 2014. He works in new product development for ArcanaNetworks, Inc., a software company that specializes in network automation for Cisco Systems’ routers, switches and voice solutions.
The original slate of candidates included von Ibsch; Bruce Alward, a vice president with Wood Harbinger, an infrastructure consultant firm based in Bellevue; Bill Ruddick, a 35-year resident who owns a consulting company on Bainbridge and ran for a position on the fire board last November; Aaron Fields, a Seattle firefighter who moved to the island roughly two years ago; and Martha Turnbull, a professional projects manager and community volunteer who has called Bainbridge home for more than 18 years.