FORKS — The Forks City Council has selected a retiree from the Air Force and U.S. Department of Defense to fill a seat on the council.
Ken Ayers — who retired from the U.S. Air Force as an intelligence officer in 2009 and from the Department of Defense in 2015 — was unanimously selected Monday night by the four remaining council members, said Mayor Bryon Monohon.
Ayers, 56, will take the seat of Kevin Hinchen, who moved outside of the city limits and had to vacate his seat shortly after he ran without opposition and was elected in November.
Ayers will serve a four-year term.
Three other Forks residents were interviewed for the position: Christina Kohout, 32, a Peninsula College student and disabled Air Force veteran who ran for City Council in 2015; Sarah Warner, 20, an active community member in Soroptimist International of the Olympic Rain Forest who is soon to head the Soroptimists; and Joe Soha.
“Any one of them would have been an admirable council member,” Monohon said.
The council selected Ayers unanimously on the first ballot.
Monohon said he believes the council was able to come to a fast and unanimous agreement because of the quality of the retired officer’s education and experience.
In December, Hinchen was appointed to the Quillayute Valley School Board Position 2, which was vacated by Rick Gale, who resigned Oct. 13.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arice@peninsuladailynews.com.
