Chehalis Mayor Dennis Dawes reads a plaque that honors Mayor Pro-tem Terry Harris for the work he has done for the city over the sixteen years he has served on the coucil.
Mayor Pro-tem Terry Harris was honored at the Chehalis City Council meeting for his 16 years of service to the city at the last council meeting before leaving office. The council chambers were festively decorated with lighted garland draped across the counselor's desk and tables with cookies, candy canes, coffee and poinsettias.
“I really can’t express enough how much of an honor and a blessing it is to be able to sit up here with these gentlemen, in front of these people and do the work that we do,” Harris said.
A reception was held at 4 p.m., an hour before the start of the meeting, “in recognition of Terry’s love of this season and all of the work he does to make the City festive and bright during the Holiday season,” said City Clerk Caryn Foley in an email the week before the meeting.
Harris was first elected to the council in 2004 and was chosen by his fellow council members in 2012 to serve as mayor pro-tem until the end of 2019. He hopes to continue serving on the board for the Chehalis Basin Partnership.
Harris was defeated in the November general election by Jerry Lord.
Mayor Dennis Dawes read a proclamation to Harris and the audience at the meeting which highlighted the work Harris has done for the city of Chehalis over the years. He mentioned several committees and subcommittees on which Harris has served, including but not limited to: Lewis County Solid Waste Advisory Committee, Chehalis Basin Partnership, Chehalis Community Marketing Committee, Chehalis Community Renaissance Team, Chehalis Business Association, Chehalis Basin Board, and the city’s Lodging Tax Advisory Committee.
“For many years Councillor Harris has led the charge in decorating our city for the holidays and outdoing himself this year by creating a gingerbread house that has become the talk of the town,” said Mayor Dawes. “Thank you for always representing the city with integrity, humility, and heart-felt commitment to the community.”
Chehalis City Manager and fellow Pepsi-drinker Jill Anderson presented Harris with a six-pack of his drink of choice.
“I hate to drink alone,” said Anderson as she presented him with the Pepsi and the room erupted into laughter.
“I love working with these gentlemen,” said Harris as he gestured to the rest of the councilmembers and the mayor. “It is such a phenomenal group of people to work with and yet there’s not a ‘yes man’ amongst them … and that, my friends, is what this body is supposed to be about, or any body like this is supposed to be about and I cannot tell you how much I appreciate being a part of that.”
Toward the end of the meeting, while giving their council reports, most of the council members said a few words to publicly thank Harris for all he has done for the city over the years.
“It’s been a great pleasure working with you and I really am going to miss you and I hope I still get to see a lot of you,” said Dr. Isaac Pope.
