Sequim mayor happy to change mind, lead City Council

SEQUIM — A mind is a wonderful thing to change.

Just ask Sequim Mayor Walt Schubert.

Back in late October, Schubert promised he wouldn’t serve again as mayor unless all his colleagues on the City Council voted for him.

They didn’t, yet he did.

“I guess you could say I changed my mind,” Schubert said Monday, nearly two weeks after accepting the position.

Schubert’s lone opponent was Mayor Pro Tem John Beitzel, who voted for himself and received a vote from Councilman Paul McHugh.

He had told Peninsula Daily News in a report published Oct. 28, “I will continue as mayor as long as they all vote for me. If anybody doesn’t want me, then I won’t take the job.

“That’s strictly because it’s tough enough being mayor without having somebody who doesn’t want you there.”

By Jan. 4, however, he felt differently.

“I have no excuses,” Schubert said Monday about his switch.

“It’s difficult sometimes because we say things and put ourselves in a box and think we can’t say otherwise.”

Enjoys the post

Schubert accepted the major’s post again, he said, because “I really enjoy working with this council. It’s a wonderful council.”

That includes Beitzel, he said.

“I don’t think I would have made it the first couple of years on the council without John Beitzel,” Schubert said. “I consider him a friend.”

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