City Council mulls future changes

Published 12:34 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008

SNOQUALMIE – The make up of the city of Snoqualmie’s government could look different in less than a year and even more different in a couple of years.

As the city continues to grow, the City Council will have to make some changes. The most pending issue has been when the city will expand to a seven-member council from its present five. Washington law mandates that all cities that have 5,000 or more people must have at least a seven-member council. Snoqualmie’s population is expected to break 5,000 this year, but will not be official until the city gets census information from the state in 2004.

“Everyone is recognizing that next April is the ‘no later than’ date for that transition,” said Councilman Jay Rodne.

When the city decides to add the new positions, they will be appointed by the council. One new council member would be appointed by the council and then the new six-member council would appoint the seventh member.

One of the new council members would serve a one-year term while the other would serve a two-year term so that each would be on the same staggered election schedule as the other council members. Council members serve four-year terms and are elected in odd-numbered years.

Another change that was recently proposed at the Aug. 11 council meeting was switching from at-large council members (where council members can come from any part of the city) to ward council members (where each council member lives in a particular section of the city). Rodne, who proposed the change, said that with the possibility of the City Council being made up entirely of Snoqualmie Ridge residents after this November’s election, a ward type of government should be looked into.

For the complete story, pick up a copy of this week’s Valley Record