By a vote to 4 to 2, former SeaTac Councilmember Stanley Tombs was placed on the SeaTac City Council to replace Councilmember Joel Wachtel, who recently resigned and moved to Tampa, Fla.
The council voted on Wednesday evening, June 17, 2020, to place Tombs in the Position #5 seat on the Council until the next 2021 SeaTac City Council election.
Tombs is a former member of the Council who was appointed to fill the position of Amina Ahmed, who tragically died in a head-on collision seven weeks after joining council. She had joined the SeaTac City Council in Dec., 2018.
Tombs is currently serving on the Sidewalk Committee, and previously served as a Councilmember from January 2019 to November 2019.
Tombs will serve until the next election, and can run for voter approval at that time.
Tombs was born and raised in SeaTac even before the City was incorporated. He is retired from the legal industry, and was the former Vice-Chair of the SeaTac Planning Commission as well as was a member of the committee from July 2017 to January 2019.
In addition, Tombs attended the previous City of SeaTac Community Leadership Academy which teaches residents about how the City government operates.
The City of SeaTac has a seven-member City Council elected by residents, and chooses from among themselves who will serve as Mayor and Deputy Mayor for a two-year term. The Mayor is recognized as the head of the City for ceremonial purposes and serves as chair of Council Meetings.
The City Councilmembers are the leaders and policy makers elected to represent the community and to concentrate on policy issues that are responsive to the needs and wishes of the residents and businesses. The SeaTac Council makes policy, land use, and budget decisions for the City.
The City Council appoints a full-time City Manager to oversee the daily operations of the City and to advise, implement, and administer the policies adopted by the City Council.
Thank God we have a competent majority city council to put the needs of the whole city in their decisions. Congratulations Stanley Tombs.
In the last city elections, voters chose not to elect Mr. Tombs to a seat on the Council. But the ‘old boy’ network comes through for him, showing shocking disregard for democratic process. Times they are a changin.’ I can’t wait for the next election.
glad to see the council cares about the will of the voters. Guess I get to vote against Tombs again soon.
One big difference between an election and an appointment is that the people being considered must have some knowledge of the responsibilities of the position they have applied for.
An election candiditate does not have to know diddly squat about the responsibilities. They need only to win a popularity contest that is often carefully contrived by a professional outside consultant funded by an organized group of people with a common ax to grind. Neither the consultant nor the monitary providers have an interest in a particular city or the citizens of that city. All they care about is their ‘ax’.
A successful appointee has the confidence of the majority of the team members that he/she will join. The others who are already on the team want someone who will add positively to the decision-making required to achieve their shared goals and visions. This level of confidence consists of the successful appointee’s previous experiences and accomplishments, coupled with some personal knowledge of the appointee’s sincere concern for the citizens of the city.
For those of you who can’t wait for the next election to vote in a person who has professional speech writers, slick campaign ads filled with 30-second sound bites and portraits posed by professional photographers designed to portray ‘Motherhood and Apple Pie’ or whatever other feel-good image is desired: Ask yourself
*why does a person running for a local city contest need so much money to win a local election,
*why do they need professional speech writers,
*why do they need slick ads,
*why do they need hoards of outsiders to campaign door to door for them?
If you, as a voter, are paying attention to the activities of your city, you would know who the people are who have been involved with your City prior to the election and you would not be influenced by political snake oil..