Members of the Toledo City Council met for their first meeting of the year on Monday, Jan. 5, at Toledo City Hall.
Before business items could be addressed, Toledo Mayor Cherie Devore swore in newly elected Councilor Dan Anderson to council position 2.
Anderson, who ran unopposed for the position, is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who served from 1994 to 1998 with the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines.
Now, he and his family run Jen’s Place Frozen Yogurt in Toledo, named in honor of his late wife, Jennifer Johnston. He replaces former Councilor and Toledo Mayor Pro Tem Eric Hayes, himself a U.S. Navy veteran, who decided not to run for re-election last year.
With former Councilor Tawni Shepherd also declining to run for re-election and no candidates having filed to run for position 1 during last year’s election, that seat is now vacant.
According to state law, the city will have 90 days to choose Shepherd’s replacement following her last day in office, Dec. 31.
As of Monday’s meeting at Toledo City Hall, one Toledo resident, Jillian Niles, had submitted an application to be considered for the position 1 seat. Niles was in attendance at the meeting and told the council why she wanted to serve.
“I’ve always been really big into the community. I love the people of the community. I love the small-town, family-feel that we have, and I just want to support that,” Niles said.
Having grown up in Toledo, Niles has a bachelor’s degree in secondary education and currently is employed with the Washington state Department of Children, Youth and Families.
For any other Toledo residents interested in serving on the Toledo City Council, requirements to serve on the council include being 18 years or older, being a registered voter and having lived within Toledo city limits for at least one year.
More information on how to apply for the council vacancy can be found on the city’s website at https://toledowa.us/notice-2-city-council-vacancy/.
With Hayes no longer on the council, one of the few agenda items the quorum of councilors did vote on Monday night was the nomination and selection of a new mayor pro tem.
“Well I guess I’ll nominate myself. Since Tawni’s not here, Jamie’s (Scalise) already done it, Kathy is going to be gone at the end of the month, and Dan hasn’t even gotten his feet wet yet. So duty calls, not my choice,” Councilor Rebecca Duerst said.
Councilor Kathy Hill seconded Duerst’s nomination, and there were no others. The council then unanimously voted to select Duerst as the new mayor pro tem.
Once Hill vacates her seat at the end of the month as well, applications will be accepted for her position on the council.
The only other matter voted on during Monday’s meeting — aside from a liquor license renewal for the Toledo Cheese Depot — was the council approving the submission of an Association of Washington Cities (AWC) Center for Quality Communities scholarship application for Toledo High School student Lily Niles.
Given that the application period for the AWC scholarship was over the holiday period at the end of last year, Devore stated she believed this led to “less interest than anticipated” — leaving Lily as the only student who applied.
“I am pretty active in the Toledo High School community. I am the Toledo High School board representative, so any questions or anything involving the student body’s opinion, I will often give that opinion and represent the school during board meetings,” Lily said. “I’ll also update the board on high school happenings, kind of give them information on what’s happening at the school. And I’m also the president of our Toledo High School FFA (Future Farmers of America).”
Lily’s AWC scholarship application included a letter of recommendation from John Ball, Toledo High School agriculture and woods instructor and Toledo High School FFA chapter advisor.
The council unanimously approved submitting Lily’s scholarship application to the AWC.
