The Chehalis City Council will interview five candidates for a vacant city council position at 5 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 3.
The five applicants are Troy Reardon, Jenny Zenkner, Michael Barton, Dolores “Dolly” Tardiff and Pete Hammer.
The city council is holding the interviews during a special meeting. The public is welcome to attend.
After introducing the candidates, the council will select applicants at random to determine the interview order. Each city council member will ask each candidate one question during the interview and is allowed to ask followup questions as needed.
After all five candidates have been interviewed, the city council will enter executive session to discuss qualifications of applicants. The executive session is not open to the public.
The city council will reconvene the special meeting, which is open to the public, at the end of the executive session to nominate and appoint a candidate.
If more than one candidate is nominated, a vote will be conducted in the order candidates were nominated. Elections will continue until an individual receives a majority vote.
“It is expected that the person selected by the city council to serve will be sworn into office at the next regular meeting of the city council,” which is Feb. 10, according to an agenda published Thursday.
The city council stated Thursday that it will not take action on other items during the Feb. 3 special meeting.
The appointed city councilor will replace former Chehalis Mayor Pro Tem Daryl Lund, who passed away Dec. 7, 2024, after being hospitalized at the end of November and diagnosed with septic shock.
The appointed city councilor’s term will end upon certification of the next general election on Nov. 4, 2025. The candidate will then have the opportunity to run in the general election to serve out the remainder of Lund’s term, which ends on Dec. 31, 2027.
