“Centralia is better positioned for the future because of you.”
This sentiment from Centralia Mayor Kelly Smith Johnston set the tone for an emotional hour of recognition and testimony as the Centralia City Council honored its three departing members — Max Vogt, Mark Westley and Sarah Althauser — during its final meeting of the year Tuesday.
Smith Johnston handed each of the councilors a plaque for their service. Vogt served on the council for over a decade in a stint that included a term as mayor. Westley took office in 2021 after an appointment to fill a vacancy before being re-elected later that fall. Althauser was also elected in 2021.
Smith Johnston began the recognition by describing the sacrifices that city councilors make, as well as the leadership and community service they prioritize. She then took time to allow each councilor to honor the departing members one by one.
Councilors started with Vogt, who they described as dedicated — proven by his perfect attendance — as well as steady and positive. The council touted his leadership through several transitions, including through the COVID-19 pandemic, a new city manager, and two comprehensive plans. Multiple councilors thanked him for his welcoming presence as they joined the council.
“Max, I’m appreciative for your outlook and your positivity. Just the way that you articulate and resonate the feelings that you have for the city is so impactful and really makes me stop and dig deeper into thought into the direction that my thoughts go in [for] what’s best for the city,” Westley said.
Smith Johnston thanked Vogt for his service on the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee and the Fox Theater Board, his advocacy for the Main Street Corridor work, and his championing of a measure to limit the number of days fireworks can be set off in the community. She also highlighted his efforts to engage with his constituents.
“He has really looked to get citizen input. He has spent some time at his own expense to send out reminders to everyone in his district,” Smith Johnston said. “He represents a particular district in inviting them to coffee on a regular basis to make himself available. I think that’s about 1,400 households that he reached out to. Whether they attended the coffee [event] with you or not, they all got something in the mail that said their local government representative was interested in hearing from them. I think that’s powerful.”
Vogt described his departure as “the most amazing opportunity in my lifetime.”
“You know how you want to give to a charity of some kind? Everybody wants to give something to improve their city, and you hope that charity that you give to gives the money to where you want it to go,” he said. “When I got on city council, I realized, if you’re in public service, if you do volunteer work, the charity is you.”
Althauser was next to be honored, as councilors applauded her ability to juggle her service on the council along with being a mother of four, a business owner and her service as the executive director of the Boys & Girls Club of Lewis County.
Adrianna Garibay and Chris Brewer both highlighted a moment in which Althauser spoke up in support of Garibay when Garibay decried the national tension regarding the immigration crackdown and the ensuing protests in June.
“It is one conversation that I will always replay in my mind because that showed that you were standing up for people that you may not have even known,” Brewer said. “You weren’t just speaking to her, but you were speaking to an entire sector of our population who was in a place of pain at that time, and to see your care for that was amazing. I’m gonna take that with me to my grave.”
Westley, who was Althauser’s C-team basketball coach at Centralia High School, teared up as he expressed his pride in her service.
“This is like a proud father moment even though I’m not your dad. To have been a part of your life several years ago when you came to the school district and to see you up here now doing the things that you do for the best of our community, it really makes me proud. Thank you,” Westley said.
Althauser said she never pictured being on the city council but that it was a “dream” to serve alongside her seatmates. She recognized what she called a “full-circle” moment as her first days of her time on the council came during the 2022 flood and her final days came as flooding impacted Lewis County. She said the community came together for one another in both instances.
“In this horrible moment when people are so afraid, the way our community comes together is really a beautiful thing because there’s so many helpers and so many people that care,” Althauser said.
During Westley’s turn to be honored, Althauser said her favorite year of basketball at Centralia High School was when she played for Westley on the C-team. She added that every time Westley prepares to make a comment during a council meeting, she witnesses his eyes “sparkle” the same way they did in a huddle on the sidelines during a basketball game.
“I just appreciate you as a person and who you are and all your dedication because you’ve inspired me but also so many others,” Althauser said.
Vogt called Westley a “grounded, down-to-earth, reasonable, steady, honorable man,” while Chapman said he is a “legend” from the eyes of a child due to his longtime service as a teacher in the community. Westley taught Chapman’s children and grandchildren, and Chapman said Westley was one of their favorite teachers.
Additionally, Chapman noted that no councilor has ever made him change his mind about a topic more than Westley.
“In the time I’ve been on council, you, probably more than any other councilor, have said just the right words where I’ve changed my mind,” he said. “I would come in with one focus, and you would say something, whether it was about the lady at the gas pump or whatever it happens to be, and I really respect you for that. You come in with an idea, and it helps balance things out.”
Westley thanked the citizens who engaged with him and reached out to voice their concerns, as well as city staff, whom he called “second to none.”
“Thank you to all of you who continue to come to the meetings and whose voices we hear. If it were not for community feedback, I wouldn’t be sitting here,” Westley said. “I don’t like pushing my own agenda, and I tried not to have an agenda, but without community voices and those of you who have reached out and wanted to share your perspective with me to help educate me and help me understand what our community wants, that makes all the difference in the world.”
Vogt closed out the meeting by having the entire council chambers recite his four-word motto “love where you live.”
Westley will be replaced by Tucker Voetberg in District 4, Kevin Curtis will step in for Vogt as the District 3 representative, and Ray Chapman-Wilson will serve as the District 2 councilor following Althauser.
The three new councilors will begin their terms on Jan. 1, 2026, and will be sworn in during the Jan. 13, 2026, meeting.
