PORT ANGELES — A former City Council candidate was the single applicant for a vacant council seat as of Friday afternoon.
Rick Burton, who placed third in the August primary election for council Position 2, said he is seeking the appointment because he thinks he would bring balance to a council that will become divided.
“Someone like me on the council,” he said, “I wouldn’t choose sides. I would pick what is best for the people of Port Angeles.”
Burton, a 40-year-old employee of the Nippon Paper Industries USA mill, received 465 votes (13.23 percent) in the four-candidate primary.
Edna Petersen and Max Mania advanced to the November election, which Mania won.
During the primary campaign, Burton portrayed himself as an independent candidate not influenced by special interests.
The vacant council seat is for Position 1, which went vacant when Larry Little announced his resignation on New Year’s Eve, two days after he was sworn in.
Position 1, like all council seats, is open to all city residents.
The city has been accepting applications for the vacancy since Wednesday. Deadline is Jan. 19 at 3 p.m.
Whoever replaces Little will hold the tie-breaking vote for deputy mayor. At the council’s meeting, last Tuesday, council members Cherie Kidd and Don Perry each received three votes for the position.
Little, who was elected to his first term in November, cited his wife’s cancer and chemotherapy treatments and family needs as the reason for his departure.
Little beat electronics store salesman Cody Blevins in the November election.
Blevins said Friday he is considering whether to apply for the position, but hasn’t come to a decision.
Wharton won’t apply
Wharton, who said during an interview shortly after Little’s resignation that she was unsure whether she would apply, has decided to not seek the appointment.
She said Friday that she made the decision last weekend after briefly contemplating whether to replace Little and rejoin the council.
Brooke Nelson defeated Wharton, who served one four-year term, in the November election.
Wharton said she didn’t want to override the voters’ decision not to re-elect her.
“I firmly believe that the election results need to be honored and that I lost the election,” she said.
Wharton acknowledged that in 2006 she voted against appointing Richard Headrick, whom she defeated in election.
“I think it’s important to be consistent,” she said.
Wharton said she considered applying for the seat, “because I think through every thing . . . and probably because I’d love to be back on the council.”
Applications can be picked up at the city manager’s office and city clerk’s office — both at City Hall, 321 E. Fifth St. — and can be downloaded on the city’s Web site, www.cityofpa.us.
The City Council will interview applicants during a special meeting at 5 p.m. Jan. 20 in the council chambers at City Hall.
A decision may be made then or at the council’s Feb. 2 meeting.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
