SEQUIM — Applications closed Friday for a vacant Sequim City Council seat following the resignation of Kathy Downer.
Downer, 72, was honored on Jan. 13 with a proclamation for her service and kind words from fellow council members and residents.
“Thanks for making it a great city before I got here,” Downer said to those in attendance.
Downer previously said she intends to spend more time watching her new grandchild, and she had been considering fully retiring from civic service after former mayor Tom Ferrell and council member Lowell Rathbun, who are close to her age, chose to step down or not run again.
Downer, a nurse for 43 years, moved to Sequim from Ohio, where she served on the Marietta City Council from 2014-2019 after retiring from her career. Her husband Steve encouraged her to move to the area, she said, and in Sequim she served on the city’s Planning Commission prior to running for city council in 2021.
Deputy Mayor Rachel Anderson, whom Downer ran alongside in 2021 for a seat on council, said she’s “a big inspiration” because of her courage and willingness to share her opinions.
Fellow council member Vicki Lowe, who also ran with Downer, said she’ll miss sitting next to her at council meetings and her ability to push forward initiatives.
A portion of the city’s proclamation said Downer played a vital role in shaping transformative policies and projects, including affordable housing.
In a previous interview, she highlighted that as one of her accomplishments, including voting for a manufactured home zone overlay to preserve manufactured home parks so they cannot be redeveloped into anything other than manufactured homes, one of Sequim’s more affordable housing options.
Judy Hatch, a manufactured home resident in the city, said during public comments Jan. 13 that manufactured home residents “cannot thank you enough.”
“We could always depend on you,” she said. “You listened. You listened to us. You knew how much it meant to us. We’ll be forever grateful.”
Downer was up for reelection in 2023 for council seat No. 2, but she opted to run against former Mayor William Armacost in seat No. 1.Downer won with 2,382 votes (72.6 percent) to Armacost’s 892 votes (27.2 percent).
In 2021, she ran with a contingent of current and former council members due to concerns about how now-former council members called for former city manager Charlie Bush to resign, and for approving a resolution to oppose a county health mandate requiring proof of vaccinations against COVID-19 to sit indoors in restaurants and bars.
Council candidates
Candidates will be interviewed by current council members in a special meeting at 5 p.m. Feb. 3 at the Sequim Civic Center, 152 W. Cedar St.
It is anticipated that the council will decide to appoint a new member at the meeting and the new member will begin serving at the regular meeting on Feb. 10.
Council members voted 6-0 with council member Dan Butler excused on Jan. 13 to use questions asked during the appointment process to replace Ferrell in 2024. Some of the questions ask about a candidates’ vision for the city, his/her background and issues facing the city.
Council members agreed if they had fewer than three qualified candidates, they would extend the deadline to seek more applicants.
If chosen, the appointee would begin serving immediately after taking the Oath of Office and would serve until the 2025 general election results are certified.
To serve the remainder of Downer’s term, a candidate must file for the August primary in May. If elected, they would serve through the end of the seat’s term, which is set to expire Dec. 31, 2027.
Under Sequim Municipal Code, applicants must be registered voters of the city of Sequim, have a one year continuous period of residence in the city and hold no other public office or employment within city government.
Under state law, the city council must fill a vacant position within 90 days of the vacancy or Clallam County commissioners would appoint a replacement.
Salary for the position is $377 per month.
For more information, call 360-683-4139, or visit sequimwa.gov.
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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. He can be reached by email at matthew.nash@sequimgazette.com.
