Council advances three Ward 6 applicants to interviews, schedules mayoral appointment discussion

The Sedro‑Woolley City Council on March 11 voted to advance three applicants for the Ward 6 vacancy to interviews and discussed the timeline for selecting a new mayor.

Staff reported the application deadline closed March 2 with three candidates in the packet. Following a line‑by‑line process drawn from the council governance handbook, councilmembers voted to move forward Carl DeYoung, Elizabeth Ann Lau and Alicia Stout for interviews on March 25; the clerk will send interview questions to candidates in advance.

Councilmembers debated whether the council should vote to allow interviews or simply schedule interviews for all applicants. Councilwoman Kesty preferred the line‑by‑line votes; others said interviews are valuable to assess candidates beyond application materials. The process requires a motion, a second and three affirmative votes to move a candidate forward; all three applicants received sufficient support to be interviewed.

Separately, Councilmember LaVaca moved to schedule a full discussion of the mayoral appointment process—consistent with the governance handbook—on April 8. The council agreed to review the handbook and, if the council chooses, follow the existing process for appointing a mayor from among councilmembers or deliberate changes before making a selection. Staff said the governance handbook is available on the city website and that any change to the handbook would generally be made by resolution.

Interviews for Ward 6 are set for the council’s March 25 meeting; the council may appoint and swear in the selected Ward 6 member at that meeting if a majority supports an appointment.