Kelly Green appointed to the Olympia City Council 

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Kelly Green was sworn in as an Olympia City Council member on Tuesday, Jan. 14, after being appointed to fill a vacant seat through a ranked-choice voting process.  

Her daughter ceremonially swore in Green.

Mayor Dontae Payne noted that the newly appointed council member had taken her official oath of office with the city clerk on Tuesday afternoon.  

Olympia Councilmember Kelly Green was ceremonially sworn in by her daughter at the city council meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025.
Olympia Councilmember Kelly Green was ceremonially sworn in by her daughter at the city council meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025.
JOLT Staff photo via Zoom

Green expressed her gratitude to all the people who supported her decision to apply for the city council position. She said they gave her their time, advice and thoughts, including former Council member Lisa Parshley.  

Professionally, Green has worked at South Puget Sound Community College (SPSCC) for about 12 years, moving up within the organization to be part of the executive leadership team.

In this role, she has gained experience working with complex budgets involving state, federal, and other funding sources and union contracts.  

Interview process 

The Olympia City Council held the final process of selecting a new council member by interviewing seven candidates on Monday, Jan. 13, 2025.
The Olympia City Council held the final process of selecting a new council member by interviewing seven candidates on Monday, Jan. 13, 2025.
JOLT Staff photo via Zoom

Olympia received 22 applications for a council seat position. The vacancy was created when Parshley resigned in December 2024 after she was elected to the Washington Legislature. 

In a meeting on Jan. 13, the city council interviewed seven candidates to fill a vacant seat and appointed Green using a ranked-choice voting process.  

The council members reviewed and individually ranked all the applicants. They selected the top eight candidates to interview for the position.

The selected individuals were:

  • Kelly Green
  • Jennifer Reidmayer
  • Daniel Garcia
  • Bridgette Valdez-Kogle
  • Isaac Wagnitz
  • Tanzania Zensali-Marshall
  • Zachary Lynch
  • Timothy Leadingham

Seven of the candidates showed up for the interview process; Leadingham did not.  

The council decided to use ranked-choice voting, a system where voters rank the candidates in order of preference, to select the new council member.  

The Olympia City Council used a ranked-choice voting system to determine the winner. Kelly Green secured the majority of the council's votes.
The Olympia City Council used a ranked-choice voting system to determine the winner. Kelly Green secured the majority of the council's votes.
JOLT staff photo via YouTube

During the interview, which lasted for more than three hours, each candidate was allowed to answer a series of questions from the council on key issues facing the city, including housing and homelessness, the city's budget challenges, public safety and economic development.  

In her interview, Green acknowledged Olympia's reliance on state and federal funding sources, which are not guaranteed in the coming years.

She stressed that the city needs to continue partnering with regional and state-level entities to address this challenge.  

"I think the fact that the city has partnered so much with state and federal partners is the way we've needed to approach this issue," Green said.

"It's a national issue, it's a regional issue, it's a state issue, and I think the city has out of compassion, and Olympia is an incredibly compassionate city, which is amazing, but I think we've taken on an outsized fiscal responsibility for an issue that is not only local to this city." 

On the issue of the city's budget challenges, Green drew on her experience navigating similar issues at the community college level.

She emphasized the need for priority-based budgeting that aligns with community priorities and the city's obligations. She highlighted the importance of public engagement and transparency in the budgeting process.  

Green also acknowledged the difficulty of balancing public safety concerns with compassion for individual problems.

She praised the city's efforts to experiment with programs, like the Clean Team and Ambassadors, and emphasized the importance of the city's willingness to work with partners to find the right balance.  

After interviewing the seven candidates, the council went into executive session to discuss the qualifications of the candidates before returning to cast their votes using the ranked-choice system.  

After Jack Mongin, an election technician from the Thurston County Auditor's Office, tabulated the votes, Green emerged as the winner, securing most of the council's votes.  

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  • JW

    I do have to give props on appointing someone with real job experience and not just picking the most left-wing candidate.

    Thursday, January 16 Report this