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Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
New councilman breaks tie
DAVENPORT - It's official: The City has a new Mayor. City council ended a 2-month saga of questions about who would fill that role by nominating Jonathan Chapman to the seat at a regular meeting Wednesday, Jan. 10.
Council voted 4-2 in favor of Chapman over 8-year incumbent Mayor Brad Sweet, whose term ended at the end of 2023.
The City had been mayor-less for the first 10 days of 2024 after Council first tied 3-3 at the first December meeting in choosing between Chapman and Sweet, then tabled another vote at the last December meeting.
It was new councilman Mike Wilkinson who swayed the pendulum to Chapman, the I.T. manager at Lincoln Hospital and a now-former city councilman. Wilkinson joined Robert Jenkins, Lance Strite and Cory Hollis in supporting Chapman, while Patrick Katz and Heath Becker supported Sweet.
Wilkinson took office Jan. 1 from Chris Ruiz, whose term ended after 2023. Ruiz had supported Sweet.
No incumbent councilmembers changed their vote from the initial Dec. 13 tally.
He said he voted for Chapman due to the public's vote in the Nov. General Election, when J.J. Kowalkowski narrowly defeated Sweet 218-190 before later deciding against taking the job.
"I felt the vote of the citizens in November was indicative of their desire for change," Wilkinson said. "Every decision should be what's best for the people."
Jenkins, who was the final councilman to raise his hand in support of Chapman Wednesday, also said he was swayed by November's results.
"I felt (Chapman) was better for the job, based on recent events, election results and the interviews we held," he said.
Becker, meanwhile, said Kowalkowski's withdrawal should have led to Sweet staying on as Mayor.
"I think Brad has done a great job for eight years and would've done a great job moving forward," Becker said. "J.J. wanted to withdraw and missed it by just a couple days. In theory, that would've left Brad's name and he would've been Mayor."
Katz said he felt Sweet held the credentials to retain the office.
"We had two candidates (on the ballot) and one backed out," Katz said. "We all did what we thought was best."
Hollis, like Wilkinson and Jenkins, said his vote was swayed by election results.
"It's nothing personal against Brad," Hollis said. "The people did vote, and I have to go with the constituents."
Strite said he weighed the voter turnout of recent mayoral elections and compared it to 2023 when considering his decision.
"They were both very qualified...The same amount of people voted in the last three (mayoral) elections," he said. "The citizens voted not to have Brad."
Chapman said he has nerves about taking office but is confident in his ability to take the job. He said he wants to prioritize community engagement and business support as Mayor.
"We hear complaints from people when they're mad, but I want to hear about other stuff, too," Chapman said.
Sweet said he was disappointed with council's vote.
"They clearly didn't understand their task at hand," Sweet said. "Good luck in the future."
After council's vote, Chapman resigned as Councilman before clerk Dave Leath swore him in as Mayor. Wednesday's meeting was conducted by Katz, who was unanimously nominated Mayor Pro Tem at the start of the meeting.
There is now a vacancy on City Council, which is open for application to any registered voter in city limits.
Drew Lawson is the editor of the Davenport Times. He is a graduate of Eastern Washington University.
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