EDMONDS — The City Council on Tuesday night appointed a planning board member to serve on the council.
Kristiana Johnson replaces Councilman Michael Plunkett, who is moving to Seattle.
“For the past seven years, I’ve been working in an advisory capacity for the city,” Johnson said. “I felt like the City Council was the next step.” Johnson will serve the city through 2013, when the term for Plunkett’s Position 1 expires.
She was one of 18 applicants vying for the position. Two applicants dropped out of the race prior to interviews with the seated council members.
In her new role serving the city, Johnson, 60, plans to focus on the city’s strategic plan, land use issues and transportation.
Johnson, who is retired, has served on the city’s transportation committee, planning board, as a planning board liaison on the economic development commission and has been heavily involved in the city’s strategic planning process.
To fill a position, the council interviews applicants and then votes on a secret ballot to see if they can choose a consensus ballot. Council President Strom Peterson said that the council took 33 votes one time to select a council member.
On Tuesday night, the council only needed two votes. The council narrowed the number of candidates from 16 to five in the first round of balloting. Four council members chose Johnson on the second round of balloting.
Filling vacated elected seats is not new to Edmonds. This was the fourth time in the last four years the council appointed a new member.
Plunkett served the city for 14 years, including council president in 2004 and 2008, before announcing his resignation this year.
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