The Wilsonville City Council on Thursday approved an edited appointment process for filling the council seat left vacant by the resignation of Councilor Katie Dunwell, voting 4-0 to adopt changes including a requirement that applicants not be city employees and a firm application-received deadline of Oct. 10, 2025, at 5 p.m.

The vote came after more than an hour of discussion about evaluation criteria, application format and procedural safeguards. “The goal I would like to see tonight, if council consents, is to reach a final decision on what we're gonna do, vote on it,” Mayor O'Neil said during the discussion.

Under the edits approved by the council, applications must be received by the city recorder by 5 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025 (the packet language was changed from “submitted to” to “received by”). The council directed staff to allow a web-based form with attachment capability and to accept mailed or in-person applications so that applicants without internet access can participate. Staff said the city uses Mimecast to accept uploaded files.

Councilors debated how evaluation criteria should be phrased and applied. The council added a new requirement that applicants not be city employees, which the city attorney noted is required by the city charter. The council also revised a criterion to read that applicants “have demonstrated commitment to the community through prior service,” and listed examples including participation on city boards and commissions, service on government task forces, serving on nonprofit boards, or graduation from the Wilsonville Civics Academy.

Councilors discussed whether geographic distribution, prior attempts to serve on boards, and applicants’ intent to run for the seat in the next election should factor into evaluations. Several members emphasized these were meant as considerations, not disqualifying rules, and that individual councilors could weigh them differently when ranking candidates.

The council agreed to use an online ranked survey (SurveyMonkey referenced in packet) as an initial step to identify top candidates, with finalists to be discussed publicly at the council’s deliberation meeting. The city attorney and staff warned councilors about Oregon ethics guidance on serial communications and advised caution when meeting with applicants individually; any substantive one-on-one meetings with applicants should be disclosed during the public deliberation step.

Councilors also approved language directing staff to publish council rankings in the packet when candidates reach the deliberation stage. The first public deliberation on finalists is scheduled for the council meeting on Oct. 20, 2025, where councilors will disclose any information gathered in individual meetings before voting.

The appointee will fill the remainder of Dunwell’s term; councilors noted that term limits apply thereafter under the charter. The motion to approve the edited proposal and application passed unanimously, 4-0.

Next steps: staff will publish the revised application and process materials, accept applications through Oct. 10, and prepare the candidate packets and the ranked-survey results for the Oct. 20 deliberation.