RSSIf results hold, Rodriguez will depart by end of month
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YAKIMA, Wash. -- Yakima city officials confirmed Wednesday that if trends hold and City Councilwoman Sonia Rodriguez loses her election bid, she'll have to give up her seat when election results are certified later this month.
Updated election results Wednesday show almost no change statistically in Tuesday's balloting, with Rodriguez still losing to challenger Dave Ettl by a margin of 52.23 percent to 47.51 percent.
With roughly 70 percent of returned ballots counted, Rodriguez had 6,364 votes compared with 6,996 votes for KIT radio personality Ettl.
Rodriguez, an attorney, was appointed to the City Council last December. According to the city charter, appointees "shall hold office only until the next regular municipal election, at which time a qualified person shall be elected to serve for the remainder of the unexpired term for that position."
City Attorney Jeff Cutter said the city charter is consistent with state law and that Rodriguez must vacate her seat once the election is certified on
Nov. 24.
The council meets every other Tuesday, meaning Rodriguez's last meeting will be Nov. 17. Ettl is eligible to be sworn in at the next meeting on Dec. 1.
Contacted Wednesday, Ettl said he's ready to assume office at that time.
-- Chris Bristol
Sonia deserves a round of applause for her performance on the council. I was surprised to see that she wan't reelected.
That is not to say I don't think Dave will also do a good job, just that I wish that Sonia had a better chance to finish hers. Frankly, I would enjoy seeing both these people on the Council.
I have heard that some think Sonia has been too timid. I would call her thoughtful and thorough before deciding her position on an issue until she has learned all the information she can about it. That must be the lawyer in her(:-).
Since I have had a chance to get to know her a little, I have found her a very nice person overall. She is receptive to others' thoughts and ideas and I believe she has given fair consideration to each issue presented her, no matter how difficult. I especially admire her dogged stand on the gang issues, which affect us all in the community.
I hate to see her efforts, especially on that problem, "go away". In some ways, it is too bad she didn't get a better chance to prove her true value to all of us - not because she simply added an Hispanic voice and face on the council. Instead, she has proven to be a valuable and concerned member of our entire community - a true asset. I hope she actively continues her involvement in the City of Yakima.
I agree Nick - she deserves a round of applause. I appreciate the way she took the lead on the gang problem.
Dave and the next council would do well to pay attention to this problem. I hope they work as hard as Sonia did.
Wait til next cycle. I hope Sonia will be back with new insights to straighten them out. She will be missed.
Report ViolationNicely said Nick!
It was great to see her anti-gang attention. Being that our gang problem is largely concentrated with hispanics, it was great to see a strong hispanic woman take such a stand against it. That's leadership not only to the city, but to the hispanic community. Lets hope that our council doesn't get to P.C. to address the issue as she's the only one who was brave enough to do anything about it.
I also hope that we'll see more ideas and opinions coming from Maureen Adkison this term. In the past she's quietly voted on issues, not speaking to her thoughts or opinions. I'm hoping that she'll step out and tell the council what she stands for instead of just silently following the majority as she's done thus far.
tk - that is certainly the point I was trying to make. You said it more clearly.
RPA - right on about the new council. They definitely need to follow up on this project for sure - in my opinion, ahead of all the others.
Huh - right on.
Well said, Nick. I was disappointed but not suprised to see the election results. We have a tendency to butt heads on a lot of issues, but respect and encouragement for responsible community involvement isn't one of them.
Report Violationsorry, but bye bye sonia and i hope it stays that way.
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