Burien City Council Advances Five Candidates for Position No. 2 Interviews

The Burien City Council voted Monday, July 13, to advance five applicants for interviews to fill the vacant Position No. 2 on the City Council following the resignation of Councilmember Linda Akey.

Councilmembers used a ranked-choice voting process, with each member able to identify up to five preferred candidates. Five of the six councilmembers selected five candidates, while Councilmember Kevin Schilling selected only two.

The five candidates advancing to interviews are:

• Patricia Hudson – 25 points
• Jessica Ivey – 18 points
• Jacques Colon – 16 points
• Krystal Marx – 9 points
• Torrance Dixon – 9 points

The candidates will be interviewed during the July 27 Burien City Council meeting, when the council may appoint one of them to fill the vacancy.

Because the ranked-choice results showed three candidates with significantly stronger support than the rest of the field, Councilmember Kevin Schilling made a motion to limit interviews to the top three finishers. Councilmember Sam Mendez opposed the change, arguing that all five finalists were strong candidates and should be interviewed as originally planned. The council voted 4–2 to interview all five candidates.

Applicant Information Not Available Before Vote

Before Monday's meeting, the public agenda packet identified the 14 applicants only by first name and last initial. The applicants' resumes, letters of interest, and application materials were not included, leaving residents unable to review the candidates' qualifications before the council narrowed the field from 14 applicants to five finalists.

The limited information prompted criticism from residents before the meeting. In a public letter to the council, one Burien resident wrote that "the appointment of a City Council member is serious business and not a silly guessing game," expressing concern that the agenda required the public to guess who had applied for the vacancy.

According to guidance from the Municipal Research and Services Center (MRSC), application materials for vacancies in elective office are subject to disclosure under Washington's Public Records Act, although state law leaves much of the appointment process to local procedures.

After The Highline Journal asked why the application materials were unavailable before the vote, the City of Burien's Communications and Public Engagement Manager, Devin Chicras, responded:

"The applications must go through a redaction process before they are able to be made public. After the Burien City Council makes their selections of candidates to interview at tonight's meeting, application materials from the selected candidates will proceed through the redaction process before being attached to the agenda of the upcoming meeting where interviews are to be held. This is the same process followed for each of our advisory boards, and ensures materials are handled in a responsible manner."

The selected candidates' application materials are expected to be included in the agenda packet before the July 27 meeting, when the council will interview the finalists and may appoint one of them to fill the vacant council seat.