By Alia Sinclair

At its first meeting of the year on Tuesday night (Jan. 9, 2024), SeaTac City Councilmembers elected Councilmember Mohamed Egal to serve as Mayor and Councilmember Iris Guzman to serve as Deputy Mayor through 2025.

By state law and council administrative procedures, members of the council choose a chairperson by majority vote who holds the title of “Mayor.” The mayor presides at meetings of the Council and is recognized as the Head of the City for ceremonial purposes and by the governor for purposes of military law.

Councilmember Simpson opened nominations for Mayor by nominating Councilmember Mohamed Egal.

Councilmember Joe Vinson nominated Councilmember Peter Kwon.

Councilmember Egal won the vote by a majority of 5-2. Councilmembers Simpson, Egal, Guzman, and Negusse voted in favor, while Councilmembers Kwon and Vinson voted against.

Councilmember Iris Guzman Elected as Deputy Mayor

After a 10-minute recess to transition the meeting over to the new mayor, newly-elected Mayor Egal opened the nominations for the position of Deputy-Mayor.

Councilmember Vinson nominated Councilmember Negusse for the role.

Councilmember Negusse nominated Councilmember Guzman.

By role call vote, Councilmember Guzman won the vote unanimously.

The Deputy Mayor serves in place of the mayor in the instance of absence or temporary disability.

New, Former Councilmembers Sworn In

In addition to the election of Mayor and Deputy Mayor, new and former councilmembers were sworn in at the opening of the meeting.

Councilmembers Kwon and Negusse were sworn in after re-election, while Councilmembers Vinson and Lovell were sworn in for the first time.

Alia Sinclair is a writer residing in SeaTac. She is passionate about the arts and connecting people through the written word, and is the founder and editor-in-chief of Patchwork Mosaic magazine for creatives.