Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Armand forced to select his replacement
HARRINGTON - A local businesswoman has been selected to fill a vacant seat on City Council. Janice Meats, the co-owner of Harrington Haus Tavern and the current Executive Director of the Lincoln County Economic Development Council was narrowly chosen at council's meeting Wednesday, Jan. 10.
Meats will fill the Position No. 1 seat vacated when Joe Armand ran for, and was elected, Mayor instead of re-filing for the council seat he previously occupied.
And ironically, it was now-Mayor Armand who ended up naming Meats to the seat after the four councilmembers were split between two candidates.
Meats was one of three candidates who interviewed before council Jan. 10, along with her husband, Christopher Meats, and local woman Kelly Foreman, who unsuccessfully ran against Gavin Wagner in a contested race for Position No. 5 in November.
Candidates were questioned about what they feel are the top priorities in the city, relevant experience to the position and the amount of time they could commit to the role.
Foreman said she hoped to see an emphasis on meter replacement, road plowing and weed spraying.
Janice Meats said hiring a Public Works employee and rewriting ordinances to be better enforced should be prioritized.
Christopher Meats also brought up Public Works and completion of the city's water project as a necessary emphasis, while also saying he would focus on sustainability and risk management.
After the round of interviews, council entered executive session.
Following executive session, Armand named each candidate and asked the four councilmembers to raise their hand when he spoke the name of that councilmember's preferred candidate.
Councilmembers Stephen Hardy and Kris Moritz raised their hands in favor of Foreman, while Wagner and David Buddrius preferred Janice Meats.
Council then elected to pose the final two candidates with more questions, if desired. Buddrius was the lone member to pose another question, asking Foreman and Meats about their grant-writing experience.
Foreman said she didn't have any direct grant-writing past, but has 19 years of experience working with government agencies at several levels. Meats, meanwhile, pointed to the grant-writing she has performed for the county while with the EDC.
Council took a second executive session, but remained deadlocked after another vote. This left the tiebreaking vote to Armand, who chose Meats.
"I'm not going to win on this, but on the flip side, I'm going to win," Armand said. "There's no wrong answer here. I'm going to rely on Janice's experience in this role."
Meats was then sworn in, and will fill the final two years of the elected position. The seat is back open for election in 2025.
Drew Lawson is the editor of the Davenport Times. He is a graduate of Eastern Washington University.
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