Members of the Goldendale City Council made a smooth transition to a new mayor last Tuesday, following the earlier resignation of former mayor Clint Baze. The normal Monday night meeting was shifted to Tuesday due to the Labor Day holiday. (That pushed the meeting past The Sentinel’s deadline.)
Gary Hoctor opened the meeting as mayor pro tem but handed it over as quickly as possible to Councilor Mike Canon, who was appointed unanimously as interim mayor. Canon had earlier filed to run in this November’s election and is the only candidate to do so. Former mayor Baze had announced earlier that he would not seek re-election.
City Administrator Larry Bellamy told councilors before the vote that the path to a full mayoral term at this point is complicated: “The person that you appoint would fill the position until the election is certified, which would be around the third week of November. Then whoever is elected in the November ballot would take over at the time the election is certified and serve the balance of the mayor’s current term, which would be until Dec. 31, 2015. Then the mayor-elect at that point would take the term to which he was elected, and he would begin that term in January 2016.”
At the meeting’s end, The Sentinel asked Canon how it felt to now be sitting in the hot seat:
“It’s pretty daunting,” he said, “but at the same time, I’ve talked to all the previous mayors, and they say this is going to be something I’ll really enjoy, and I’m going to do the best I can do to make sure it’s really enjoyable for everybody.”
Canon took the reins and held them comfortably through the rest of the meeting, which covered a number of topics
Mike DeMott appeared on behalf of Central Washington Parks and Recreation department, which has taken over the children’s soccer program. Games had been played at the school, but DeMott said signups have exceeded the school’s capacity. He asked if the city would allow the program to use Ekone Park. “I hate to ask for anything. But my goal is to have the program be self-sufficient, to cover its small expenses — any sort of waiver or reduction would be much appreciated.” He noted the program falls under parks and rec insurance. In response to a question from Len Crawford, DeMott replied that 145 kids signed up for the program. Council immediately voted to waive all fees.
In other business, council members:
No meeting was held Sept. 22 due to the number of councilors on vacation. The council will next meet on Monday, Sept. 28.
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