Snoqualmie City Council sets timeline for filling vacancy, sends seat to early election

On Monday, the council approved a timeline to fill the vacancy left by Councilmember Matt Laase.

The Snoqualmie City Council will be at full strength again in early April.

On Monday, the council unanimously approved a timeline to fill the vacancy left by Councilmember Matt Laase, who resigned from council on Jan. 31. Councilmembers are expected to appoint his replacement by April 10, following an application and interview process.

Applications for the vacancy are due to the city clerk by 5 p.m. on March 14. The position is open to anyone registered to vote in Snoqualmie who has lived in the city at least a year.

Typically, the candidate appointed to replace Laase would serve out the remainder of his term, which expires in 2025. But this time, the appointed councilmemeber will serve only about eight months, until the general election later this year.

The position will be placed on the November 2023 general election ballot, with the elected candidate serving out the remaining two years of Laase’s term. Whoever is appointed by the council in April will need to win that race to hold their position on council.

With Laase’s old seat now up for election, four of the council’s seven positions will now be on the ballot this year. The three other seats are held by James Mayhew, Cara Christensen and Rob Wotton

Christensen was appointed to the council in October 2021, filling a vacant seat left by a resigning councilmember. Three months later, Wotton was then appointed to council, filling a seat vacated by Katherine Ross after she was elected mayor.

Mayhew was appointed to the council in 2017. He successfully won re-election in 2019.