SEQUIM – It’s a big job that’s growing bigger, but it still pays just $150 a month.
With the sudden resignation of Patricia Kasovia-Schmitt, a Sequim City Council seat is open.
Any registered voter who has lived in Sequim continuously for one year or longer can apply for the position, provided he or she holds no other public office nor employment with the city government.
“We will interview everyone who applies,” Sequim Mayor Walt Schubert promised at the close of Monday’s City Council meeting.
He’d just finished reading Kasovia-Schmitt’s resignation letter.
The lone woman on the council, who served for five years, wrote that something “special” had occurred in her family, and that “it’s time to create more quality time” with them.”
Kasovia-Schmitt, a retired nurse and educator in her mid-60s, will step down Jan. 31.
She asked reporters to “respect my privacy” before and after that date.
She spent much of her final year on the council focusing on emergency preparedness in Sequim.
As the city’s representative on the Dungeness Elk Working Team, she called the animals a public safety threat.
“It’s always been about people for me,” read her letter to Schubert.
Kasovia-Schmitt was appointed in April 2002 to replace Dave Anders, who resigned from the council when he moved out of Sequim.
She then won election to a four-year term on the council in 2003.
So her replacement won’t have long to serve before choosing whether to stand for election later this year.
Applications and an outline of council rules and core beliefs are available at City Hall, 152 W. Cedar St., or at www.ci.sequim.wa.us.
For more information, phone 360-683-4139.
The deadline to apply is Feb. 23.
