A More Conservative Yakima City Council? Big Changes On The Way

Big changes coming for the Yakima City Council.

When the council meets at 5:30 p.m. today (Tuesday), the council will welcome its new members who were elected in the November 2023 general election.

NEWLY ELECTED COUNCIL MEMBERS WILL BE SWORN INTO OFFICE

New council members Reedy Berg, Rick Glenn and Leo Roy will be sworn into office Tuesday, along with District 3 Representative Patricia Buyers, who ran unopposed in November.

Leo Roy outpolled his opponent Dulce Gutierrez in District 1, while Berg and Glenn also beat incumbents. Berg outpolled Holly Cousens in District 7, and Glenn beat Soneya Lund in District 5.

WILL YAKIMA CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS RE-ELECT THE CURRENT MAYOR?

Tonight, the Yakima City Council will select its new mayor and new mayor pro-tem.

It is unknown whether the new Council will choose Yakima's current mayor, Janice Deccio to remain as mayor. Deccio made local and national news in 2023 when she called police on signature gatherers at the West Valley Walmart after she claimed those collecting signatures were aggressive with customers.

A police report for Mayor Deccio's complaint was not issued by the Yakima Police Department. What effect the mayor's previous actions on the 9-1-1 call will have on her current term remains to be seen tonight.

THE YAKIMA CITY COUNCIL WILL TALK ABOUT FUNDING FOR THE PROPOSED AQUATIC CENTER TONIGHT

Mayor Deccio, along with Councilmembers Matt Brown and Danny Herrera all continue in their current terms on the council. After the new members are seated Tuesday, the council will then deal with city business that includes a discussion about funding the proposed aquatic center at Martin Luther King Jr. Park.

YOU CAN BE THERE LIVE OR WATCH ON ZOOM

The first Yakima City Council meeting of 2024 starts at 5:30 p.m. at Yakima City Hall.

You can also watch it live at yakimawa.gov.

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