For the second time in five months, residents of Medical Lake will go through the process of filling a vacant seat on their City Council.
Following the July resignation of Position 1 Councilman John Paikuli, which became effective Aug. 1, the process begins to find a city resident to fill the vacancy until the November 2019 general election. If interested, and qualified, that person could run for another full four-year term.
Application packets may be picked up at City Hall located at S. 124 Lefevre St. in Medical Lake and must be completed and returned to City Hall, no later 4 p.m. on Sept. 14, 2018. Following the deadline, City Administrator Doug Ross said he hopes to have the matter on the agenda of the Sept. 18 council meeting. If they are not comfortable with that quick of a turnaround, then it will be on the Oct. 2 agenda.
As with the process surrounding former Councilman John Merrick’s successor, Medical Lake City Council will review applications, hear a pitch from a select group of finalists and then vote on one of those.
In April of 2018, the newly-elected Merrick resigned due to the unexpected conflicts that came with a new job. A similar application process took place which resulted in Elizabeth Rosenbeck, herself a former member of the council, being chosen from a pool of applicants.
Paikuli, along with family, is returning to his native Hawaii. “As my extended family ages, the Paikuli’s have decided to return to our original home in Hawaii,” he said in the July 26 Cheney Free Press.
The Paikuli’s have lived in Medical Lake for 35 years and their roots are deep, but his parents have made the decision to move.
“I’m finally going to introduce my children to the other half of the family that reside on those tiny islands,” Paikuli said.
Paul Delaney can be reached at pdelaney@cheneyfreepress.com.
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