Olympia's City Council selected eight candidates to interview for the vacant council Position #5 on Tuesday, Jan. 7.
The seat became open when former Councilwoman Lisa Parshley was elected to the Washington Legislature.
The council reviewed applications from 22 qualified candidates and consolidated their rankings to identify the top 8 applicants.
The eight candidates selected to move forward for interviews are:
The council will interview the candidates in two panels of four on Monday, Jan. 13, at 6 p.m. in the council chambers. After the interviews, the council will use a ranked-choice voting process to select the appointee to fill the vacant seat.
"I was very pleased to see that we had this many people that were interested in the vacant seat," Mayor Dontae Payne said.
Payne noted the pool of applicants included many qualified individuals, with a number of them having backgrounds in education.
He said this showed their concern for Olympia's youths and schools, even though the city council does not directly govern the school district.
Payne also appreciated various issues and priorities identified by the applicants, including housing, homelessness, the local economy and public safety.
"It's clear to me that there were some applicants that were very much paying attention to what we've done over the last year here at the city, specifically as it relates to the budget," Payne added.
"I think that's very important for the next appointed member to have that context and understanding, as they step into the role of council member."
The mayor encouraged all the applicants, including those candidates not selected for interviews or appointment, to consider serving on the city's advisory boards and commissions.
He announced that the council will have vacancies to fill on these boards in the coming months, and could use the expertise of these qualified individuals, even if they are not selected for the council seat.
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tattooednumbers
Council members Copper & Gilman must be thrilled to have their ringer from the UFCW make cut of eight. The hipocracy in local government here is rich and at the same time personal agendas blatantly obvious.
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