Centralia business owner Jan Nontell to be appointed to city council

May 13-It's official. The City of Centralia has selected a new councilor to be sworn in later this month and represent the city's District 1 area.

That new member is owner of the Rectangle Gallery and Creative Space Jan Nontell.

The Centralia City Council voted to appoint Nontell in a 4-1 vote during the council's Tuesday evening business meeting. The council needed four votes, or in other words, a majority of its sitting members to approve any council appointment Tuesday evening.

That threshold was narrow during the meeting as Deputy Mayor Kelly Smith Johnston was away due to an excused absence and unable to vote, meaning a successful appointment could only afford one vote against or abstaining.

The appointment proceedings were relatively fast, one of the quickest agenda items of the evening.

After a brief explanation from Mayor Chris Brewer on the procedure for nomination and appointment, Councilor Adrianna Garibay officially nominated Nontell. No other councilors moved to nominate the other candidate, Meri Bretthauer.

In a call for a vote on the nomination, four council members - Brewer, Garibay, Kevin Curtis and Ray Chapman-Wilson - raised their hands and said "aye." Councilor Tucker Voetberg did not speak and was marked in the record as voting against the appointment.

"Thank you both for your time and your interest in serving the city," Brewer said. "I know that there's a lot going on before us."

Councilors did not openly discuss their decision before or after the official appointment of Nontell. Former council member and fellow downtown Centralia business owner Rebecca Staebler did comment before the vote, endorsing Nontell, who she sat with during the meeting.

In her brief comments, she recalled many years of working with Nontell as two involved members of the community and regular council meeting attendees. She described Nontell as "a critical thinker, articulate and, maybe above all, kind."

"Finding someone who is up to speed on those issues, who's been engaged in their history and their current process is really a great benefit to furthering the work and the success of the council," Staebler said. "We're lucky to have such a person, I believe, in Jan Nontell."

The action from the council is, presumably, the end of the vacancy once and for all. The issue has been on the council's agenda since the beginning of March and included a failed appointment after the selection of Cameron Bluhm was later revoked. The seat opened up March 1 when the resignation of former Centralia Mayor Norm Chapman became official.

According to Brewer, the council plans to swear Nontell into her new seat during the council's next meeting on Tuesday, May 26. That would keep the council on a timeline for appointments discussed in previous meetings as part of the council's effort to make an appointment in a timely manner, but provide ample time for consideration between meetings.

That timeline would also keep the appointment within 90 days of Chapman's official resignation. Local governments face a 90-day deadline to appoint new members before the rights to appointment move to the county government.

That being said, Centralia City staff and council have stated through City Manager Michael Thomas that they believe the city's deadline ends at a later date, arguing that it reset after the selection of Bluhm, which was later rescinded.

It appears the argument won't be tested, assuming Nontell is sworn in at the end of the month.

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