Council appoints arts, parks and utility members; adopts Resolution 1677

The Mercer Island City Council on May 20 completed a series of ballots to fill vacancies on local boards and commissions and adopted Resolution No. 1677 recording appointments to the Arts Council, Parks & Recreation Commission and Utility Board.

The council followed procedures in its rules of procedure for in‑meeting written ballots. After several rounds of voting for open Utility Board seats, the council appointed Brian Thomas to Position No. 3 (term to 05/31/2029), Geraldine Poor to Position No. 4 (term to 05/31/2029), Steve Milton to Position No. 5 (term to 05/31/2029), and George Marshall to Position No. 7 (term to 05/31/2026). The Arts Council appointments were Pam Rock (Position No. 5, term to 05/31/2028) and Britta Echol (Position No. 7, term to 05/31/2029). The Parks & Recreation Commission appointments included Sarah Markson (Position No. 5, term to 05/31/2029) and Mar Bretman (Position No. 6, term to 05/31/2029).

City Clerk Andrea Larson administered emailed ballots and read tallies aloud as required in the rules when councilmembers participated remotely. The clerk explained that each seat requires a minimum of four votes to be appointed; multiple rounds were used when no candidate met that threshold in initial balloting. Council then moved to adopt Resolution No. 1677 to formalize the appointments. The roll‑call vote to adopt the resolution was unanimous.

Council thanked outgoing Arts Council member Daniel Becker for his service; his resignation produced one of the vacancies filled at the meeting. The appointments will be reflected in the city’s official roster and in Resolution 1677.