Toby Crittenden jump starts the Bus in Olympia in 2009

The Washington Bus announced this morning that Toby Crittenden, 29, the current Program Director for the youth and politics non-profit, will be its new executive director. Crittenden, well-known for emceeing the Bus' annual Candidate Survivor game show with the Stranger, has been a dynamic presence in the group, which organizes get-out-the-vote efforts for progressive candidates, since joining "the Bus" when it began in 2007.

(I remember first meeting Crittenden—and admittedly being very confused about what in the world the Washington Bus was—when he first showed up on campus in Olympia wielding a video camera and asking legislators embarrassing questions: Check out the 4th item from our March 27, 2009 Morning Fizz .)

Outgoing and founding Executive Director Thomas Goldstein, who announced last October that he was leaving in the spring said: “I am thrilled by Toby Crittenden's selection as the next Executive Director of the Bus. To know Toby is to know the Bus. He is a mature and natural leader, a quick study and a patient teacher. The Bus thrives at the intersection of art, politics, music, and civic engagement. Toby navigates those avenues effortlessly.”