Former Cowlitz County Commissioner Axel Swanson has accepted contract terms to become Chief of Staff for the current Board of County Commissioners, Board Chairman Joe Gardner announced today. Mr. Swanson, a Castle Rock resident, is currently employed as the Research Director for the Washington State Association of Counties in Olympia and hopes to join the county in mid-November. The full board of commissioners will consider Swanson’s contract at their meeting next Tuesday, October 24, 2017.