Bernie Talmas is New Mayor of Woodinville

After 10 minutes and two rounds of voting, Deputy Mayor Bernie Talmas was elevated to mayor in a 4-2 vote and Councilmember Jeff Glickman was voted deputy mayor.

Talmas, elected to the council in November 2009, fills the seat vacated by who resigned to take a job out of the area. Woodinville has a council-manager form of government; the mayor is largely a ceremonial position. Voters elect seven at-large council members, and the council appoints a city manager to oversee the daily business of the city.

Woodinville’s mayor is elected by the city council and serves a two-year term. The mayor’s duties include presiding at council meetings and representing the city at various ceremonial functions and at community and intergovernmental meetings. The deputy mayor is also elected from within the city council and serves a two-year term. The deputy mayor presides over meetings during the absence of the mayor.

In round one of voting for mayor, Councilmember Scott Hageman nominated Councilmember Liz Aspen, with Talmas and Glickman nominating each other. The first vote was a 2-2-2 split, with Paulette Bauman and Susan Boundy-Sanders voting for Talmas; Talmas and Glickman voting for Glickman; and Aspen and Hageman voting for Aspen.

City statute dictates that voting continue until one nominee garners four votes. In round two, Talmas was voted mayor by Bauman, Glickman and Boundy-Sanders, with Talmas casting a vote for himself. It took only one round of voting to elect Glickman deputy mayor, with Bauman, Boundy-Sanders, Glickman and Talmas voting for Glickman, and Aspen and Hageman voting for Aspen.

It took the Woodinville City Council nearly two hours to discuss how to fill the remainder of Price’s council seat. City Attorney Greg Rubstello pointed out ambiguities in Washington State law, leaving it uncertain if the council would be appointing a new member to serve until the November 2011 election or the general election in 2013, when Price’s term expires.

Boundy-Sanders, Glickman, City Manager Rich Leahy and Rubstello himself, pointed out that all elections in King County are determined by the county elections office. Boundy-Sanders said she had an email from the elections office, stating an election for Price’s council position will be held in 2013. The council will appoint someone to hold the vacant seat, and wait for the county to determine when that position will go to the electorate.

The council will accept applications from qualified residents (candidates must be registered voters and live in the city limits) until Sept. 26, with interviews held in the Council Chambers at 6 p.m. on Oct. 3.