Chehalis now has a new city councilor representing District 2.
Michael Barton, a U.S. Army veteran and father of four, was selected to fill a vacancy after the Chehalis City Council conducted an interview process with him and four other candidates during a special meeting on Monday, Feb. 3, at Chehalis City Hall.
The District 2 seat was left vacant following the death of Chehalis Mayor Pro Tem Daryl Lund on Dec. 7, 2024.
Barton will officially be sworn in at the beginning of the council’s next regular meeting scheduled for Monday, Feb. 10, at Chehalis City Hall, 350 N. Market Blvd.
The other candidates included Jenny Zenker, Dolores “Dolly” Tardiff, Pete Hammer and Troy Reardon. To be eligible, candidates must have resided within the City of Chehalis for at least one year, currently live in District 2 and be a registered voter.
Each applicant was interviewed individually by the council. Topics included their thoughts on Chehalis expanding and annexing more land, how they would address homelessness, what they felt are the biggest issues the city is facing and how they would address those issues.
Following the interviews, the council adjourned into executive session to discuss candidate qualifications for nearly an hour before calling the candidates back into the council chambers for the nomination and voting process to select the new councilor.
“Can we nominate all five of them?” Councilor John Six asked jokingly.
A total of two nominations were made — Tardiff, who was nominated by Councilor Kevin Carns, and Barton, who was nominated by Councilor Bob Spahr.
To be chosen as the new councilor, a nominee needed at least four of the six councilors’ votes. Tardiff received two votes, while Barton received the needed four.
Those who were not selected will still have the chance to win the District 2 council seat in the upcoming November general election, as Barton will be required to run to keep his seat. Should Barton win in November, he will then serve out the remainder of Lund’s term, which ends on Dec. 31, 2027.
A U.S. Army veteran who served for eight years as a practical nursing specialist and a father of four children, Barton and his family have called Chehalis home for just over a year now.
“I’m originally from central Arkansas and I was living in Olympia at the time of my separation from the military,” Barton said during his interview. “I was looking for a place I felt comfortable raising my four children in and that felt like home. And that’s how my wife and I settled on Chehalis.”
While he and his wife were charmed by Chehalis, he told the council he felt the biggest issue the city faced revolved around public safety.
Barton’s proposed solution to the public safety issue was two-fold — increasing funding for the Chehalis Police Department and expanding access to resources for those experiencing homelessness.
He also wanted to work more alongside local organizations and nonprofits that do outreach to those experiencing homelessness.
Working on making Chehalis more Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant was another issue he hoped to tackle on the council.
“After my separation from the military, I started working with a nonprofit that takes care of adults with disabilities (Kokua Services). I’m a nurse by trade, so I work as a health care advocate,” Barton said.
Leveraging Chehalis’ location along the Interstate 5 corridor to attract more businesses to the city is another goal he hopes to accomplish on the council.
As for the annexation issue, Barton said he felt it was important to work closely with local property owners who the city might have to buy out in order to be able to annex land into the city limits.
To watch Barton’s full interview along with the interviews of the other applicants, visit the city’s website at https://tinyurl.com/3etnxbae.
