Evaluations will begin Friday of the 29 applications for an Olympia City Council seat that will open up on December 31.
The city has posted the applications in the agenda for its Friday meeting, scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. The agenda may be found on this page: https://olympia.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx, where people interested in watching the proceedings also can find the Zoom link to the meeting.
The 29 applicants come from very diverse backgrounds. They responded in writing to questions ranging from their opinion on the city policy documents, their ability to problem-solve and how to address issues of race and social justice in the community.
They also were asked to identify the top issues Olympia is facing. Most listed housing and homelessness, economic development, and the environment and climate change and police accountability.
The seat is open due to the resignation of Councilmember Jessica Bateman effective December 31; she was elected to the state Legislature in November and will begin serving in January.
The council has asked a three-member subcommittee (Mayor Cheryl Selby and Council Members Dani Madrone and Jim Cooper) to narrow the field to eight applicants for each councilmember to interview.
Those eight will go to the full City Council for consideration and approval at a December 22 meeting; councilmembers have tentatively reserved January 5 and 6 for the interviews and plan to decide in time for the appointee to particpate in the City Council’s annual goal-setting retreat January 8-9.
The appointee will serve from the time of their appointment until the November 2021 General Election results are certified. To serve out the remainder of the Position 2 term, which ends December 31, 2023, the appointee will have to be elected to the position in the November 2021 General Election.
