Michael Bannan was appointed to the Chehalis City Council Monday night by the remaining six council members to fill the position that was left vacant following former mayor pro-tem Chad Taylor’s resignation in February after he purchased The Chronicle.
Bannan, who works as a general sales manager at Awesome Chevrolet in Chehalis, was among five candidates for the position.
“I work in the auto industry and I’ve worked in management for 10-plus years, and part of that is making big decisions with millions of dollars at stake, and I think that prepared me for this role,” Bannan said.
Eric Carlson, former councilor Terry Harris, Katherine McDougall and Lindsey Senter also applied for the position.
The candidates were interviewed by the council at a special meeting Monday. The city councilors received the candidates’ applications a few days prior.
“I feel like I plan on living here forever, so I’ve got to give something back. I think it’s part of my responsibility, so I just want to help serve the city in any way I can,” Bannan said.
Bannan said that he feels the role of a city councilor is to listen to all sides of an issue and ultimately make a decision that affects many people.
“I think I’d be good at that,” he said.
Bannan will be sworn in at the next regular council meeting at 5 p.m. on March 8. He will serve the rest of the term, which expires on Dec. 31, 2021. To stay on the council, he’ll need to run in the November general election. He told The Chronicle on Tuesday that he plans to run for election to retain the seat in November.
Councilors Jerry Lord, Tony Ketchum, Daryl Lund and Mayor Dennis Dawes voted to appoint Bannan while councilors Bob Spahr and Isaac Pope voted to appoint Harris.
“It is very difficult. We were down to two candidates in the discussions who had excellent points and excellent reasons to be appointed to the council,” Dawes said. “It’s tough decisions that we have to make, and that’s why it’s so much easier when the voters pick the folks who sit up at the table.”
Dawes encouraged the four candidates who were not appointed to run for the open council positions in the November election. He said that he will be retiring from the council at the end of his term this year, so there will be an open position without an incumbent running for reelection. Spahr’s term also expires at the end of the year.
“I think that you folks have a lot to offer,” Dawes said to the remaining candidates.
Watch the meeting online here: https://bit.ly/3e6kqVC
