By MICHAEL WHITNEY
Published May 30, 2012
Council to select interim member June 6
EVERETT - There was at least one person who applied to fill the late City Councilman Drew Nielsen’s seat.
The application window was announced Wednesday, May 23 and closed 10 a.m. Tuesday, May 29.
As of the Tribune’s early Memorial Day press time Friday, May 25, there was one applicant. The city will release the names of the applicants at the City Council’s May 30 meeting.
The City Council must fill Nielsen’s seat by June 11 per the city charter. The selected interim council member will fill the seat until the November election is certified later that month, meaning the person would fill the seat for about five months.
The process to fill the seat for the remainder of the term through 2015 is happening through the election process. Five candidates have applied to fill the seat, and a primary will take place Aug. 7 to narrow the field to two for the November general election.
To fill the interim seat, each council member will nominate one applicant at the Wednesday, May 30 meeting. The City Council will then interview the top candidates with a series of predetermined questions in an interview process open to the public at the Wednesday, June 6 meeting. The council is expected to vote on an applicant at that meeting.
The City Council regularly meets Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m. at council chambers, 3002 Wetmore Ave.
There’s no restrictions barring the five candidates who have filed for the November election to apply for the interim vacancy.
The five candidates are previous council candidates Scott Bader and June Robinson, former mayor Pete Kinch, retired police officer Jon Ott and bank branch manager Bill Paulen.
Nielsen, 61, a well-respected council member and civic leader, died Saturday, May 12 in a whitewater rafting accident on the Green River in King County. Nielsen, an expert whitewater rafter, became pinned under the raft when it capsized and could not escape.
At the time of his death, he was in his third term in office.
There hasn’t been a council member in recent memory to die while in office.
