City Clerk Josh Stecker

Each applicant will be provided three minutes to introduce themselves and state the reasons for their candidacy in the order listed below:

Councilmembers will identify by paper ballot the unranked names of four applicants they would like to interview for the vacancy. The name of the councilmember and the names of their four selected applicants shall be read aloud by the City Clerk. The four applicants who receive the most selections will be interviewed in an open forum. In the event of a tie, councilmembers shall vote for their preferred applicant by paper ballot to be read aloud by the City Clerk.

Questions will be asked of each applicant selected for an interview in a forum setting with all four finalists present. Finalists will alternate the order of answering questions so that finalists take turns being the first to respond. Each finalist will have two minutes to answer each question. Following the predetermined interview question period, councilmembers may ask follow-up questions of individual finalists.

The Mayor shall ask for nominations from the councilmembers for the purpose of creating a group of finalists to consider. No second is needed. Nominations are closed by a motion, second, and majority vote of the council. Councilmembers may deliberate on such matters as criteria for selection and the nominated group of candidates. 

The Mayor shall poll councilmembers to ascertain that councilmembers are prepared to vote. The City Clerk shall pass out polling slips and instruct each councilmember to write their name on the top of the slip, and the name of their preferred candidate on the bottom. The City Clerk will then collect all slips and read the results into the record. If no applicant receives four or more votes, then a second written poll is conducted, but with the nominee(s) who received the fewest votes on the first vote removed from consideration. Voting will continue until a nominee receives a majority vote of the Council. 

The Mayor shall declare the nominee receiving the majority vote as the new councilmember and he or she shall be sworn into office by the City Clerk at the earliest opportunity or no later than the next regularly scheduled City Council meeting.

To evaluate the qualifications of a candidate for appointment to elective office per RCW 42.30.110(1)(h). Councilmembers may convene into Executive Session to discuss the qualifications of the applicants at any time. However, all interviews, deliberations, nominations, and votes taken by the council shall be in open public session.