Fife council deadlocks 3-3 on appointment to Position 1 after candidate interview; special meeting set

The Fife City Council deadlocked 3-3 on March 11, 2025, in its effort to fill Council Position 1 after interviewing candidate Tali Suoloa and receiving nominations for Summer Andriyuk and Tully Sanalua. With no nominee reaching a majority, the council postponed an appointment and directed staff to collect additional written answers from the two nominees before a reconvened special meeting.

The tie vote came after the council heard a roughly 20-minute interview with applicant Tali Suoloa, who described a background in federal and municipal government and said she would prioritize easing regulatory barriers for small businesses. "I would like to take a look at that and see if there's areas of opportunity where we can remove some roadblocks to make it easier and just more attractive for people to want to open up businesses in the city," Suoloa said.

Nut graf: The council's inability to select a replacement leaves Position 1 vacant until the council acts again. Council members said they wanted more information before making an appointment, so they asked staff to send three written questions to the two nominees and to convert next week's study session into a special meeting that will include an executive session to evaluate qualifications, with candidate responses due by close of business on Monday.

During the public interview, applicant Suoloa outlined her qualifications and local ties. She said she has lived in the Radiance neighborhood since 2017, previously worked for the Internal Revenue Service, and currently manages the Consumer Protection Division for the City of Seattle. She described regulatory and code-writing experience and said she would consult directly with local small-business owners before proposing changes. "The combination of what I do with the City of Seattle and my other professional experience, I think, prepared me well to handle this position," Suoloa said.

Deputy Mayor Murphy, who nominated Summer Andriyuk, praised Andriyuk's resume and service on a local commission: "Besides the ... impressive resume and doing a good job conveying her thoughts when we had these interviews, Summer demonstrated commitment to public service by serving on our committee," Murphy said.

Nominations and roll-call vote: Councilmembers nominated Summer Andriyuk and Tully Sanalua. The city clerk conducted a roll-call vote with the following results: Councilmember Gathers ' Tully; Councilmember Fagundes ' Summer; Councilmember Halsey ' Tully; Mayor Roscoe ' Tully; Deputy Mayor Murphy ' Summer; Councilmember Wolfram ' Summer. The 3-3 split left the appointment unresolved.

Following the tie, council members discussed options and chose not to appoint at the meeting. Instead they announced a short break and an executive session, and later directed staff to: (1) convert next week's study session into a special meeting that will include an executive session to evaluate candidate qualifications, and (2) send three written questions to the two nominees, with responses due by close of business Monday and distributed to council before the special meeting.

The meeting also recorded routine business earlier in the agenda: the consent agenda passed unanimously and included payroll vouchers ($914,955.77), claim vouchers (checks 127158'127270 totaling $787,285.14), approval of minutes for Feb. 25 and March 4, and passage of Ordinance No. 21-36, which adds a municipal code section related to industrial wastewater pretreatment program acceptance of electronic documents. That consent motion was moved by Councilmember Wolfram, seconded by Councilmember Halsey, and carried unanimously.

The council plans to revisit the appointment at the special meeting and said it expects the additional written material to inform a final vote.

Ending: Staff will send the three questions to the nominees and distribute the responses to council by the stated deadline; no appointment was made at the March 11 meeting, and the council set a process to pursue a decision at the upcoming special meeting.