Dittmar Selected as New Yakima City Councilman

Thomas Dittmar, a fraud investigator with the State Department of Labor and Industries is now a member of the Yakima City Council.  This morning by a 6-0 vote the council selected Dittmar to replace Sara Bristol, who resigned last month. Dittmar was selected from a  field of 13 applicants. That field was narrowed to six and this morning the council interviewed all six candidates before unimously selecting Dittmar.  The other five interviewed today were: The other finalists were Patricia Byers, Maria Giedra, Mark Johnson, Michael Liddicoat, and Dan Polage.

Originally from Yakima, Dittmar began his law enforcement career as a police officer for the Los Angeles Police Department in 1971. Two years later, he was hired as a patrol officer in Lacey, Washington. From 1974 to 1979, Dittmar served as the sergeant in charge of the Port of Seattle Police Department bomb squad. Dittmar then spent 11 years working for the Seattle Police Department as an intelligence detective. In 2001, he returned to Yakima to serve as a reserve deputy with the Yakima County Sheriff’s Department. From 2004 to 2006, Dittmar worked for the Washington Military Department as a security officer. Since 2006, he has been with the Department of Labor and Industries investigating fraud and abuse of the state’s industrial insurance program.

He will be sworn in next Tuesday and will have to run for election next year to retain his seat. Dittmar is expected to cast the deciding vote on who the next mayor will be. The last vote had Ensey tied with Micah Cawley, who has been Mayor of Yakima for four years.