Allan Ekberg was sworn in Monday as Tukwila’s new mayor and immediately the City Council finalized the process for appointing a replacement the longtime council member.
Tukwila Municipal Court Judge Kimberly Walden administered the oath to Ekberg, which then swore in newly re-elected council members Kathy Hougardy, Dennis Robertson and Kate Kruller.
De’Sean Quinn, who lost the mayoral race to Ekberg, was on a family vacation in California and was excused from the meeting.
Later in the evening, the City Council elected veteran council member Joe Duffie as council president, a leadership position he last held in 2008. The job rotates among council members – and results in a shuffling of where everyone sits on the council dais.
His election as council president is an honor, he said. Duffie was clear what’s going to happen this year and beyond.
“I did not vote for the mayor. OK. The mayor was elected by the citizens of Tukwila. He is the mayor for the city of Tukwila.” And he asked, then changed that to begged, everyone to support the new mayor because the city has a lot of work to do.
“Get ready to work, because we are going to work,” he said.
And he said council meetings won’t run late into the night; instead the council will get the public’s work done in its allotted time, three hours.
The City Council will interview eight candidates to replace Ekberg on City Council Position 3 at 5 p.m. Monday (Jan. 11) and 5 p.m. Wednesday (Jan. 13). Five of the 13 Tukwila residents who expressed an interest in being considered didn’t complete the application, so the council decided not to interview them.
On Monday, the council will interview Charles Tyson, Jun Castillo, Khali Mohamed, Brian Kennedy and Dennis Martinez.
On Wednesday, the council will interview Thomas McLeod, Jonathan Joseph and Laura Garris.
The council may hold executive sessions each night to discuss the candidates’ qualifications. The plan is to appoint a replacement in open session on Wednesday.
The council’s Committee of the Whole meeting on Monday is canceled.