SNOHOMISH — Longtime City Councilwoman Lynn Schilaty is leaving her position earlier than anticipated.
She sent her peers a resignation letter on June 21. The early exit is because her family bought a house in Everett.
After 12 years as a city representative, Schilaty said she wasn’t running for council again.
But now with four months before the election, her colleagues will be deciding at their meeting this week after press time on what path to take in filling the vacancy.
The council could take one of four options: simply appoint one of the two people already running to be elected to the seat, recruit an applicant to temporarily take the seat until the election, appoint an old council member to pinch-hit until the election, or leave the seat vacant.
Running for Schilaty’s seat are Donna Ray and Marc Crawford.
Schilaty won a seat on the council in 2007 and provided a moderate voice on council when it voted on policies.
Her family’s ties to the area run decades back. She graduated from Snohomish High in 1981; her sister Pam leads the city Chamber of Commerce.
In her resignation letter, she wrote how hard it was to move away: “I was raised in Snohomish as were my children and I am connected to this community in inextricable ways. I will always consider it my home. In choosing a new place, we made sure we weren’t too far away.”
She wrote that “to have people tell me why they love living in Snohomish, well, that’s why I ran for office and it fills my heart to the brim.”
She will continue to advocate for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning people at the state and national levels, and continue participating
with the Snohomish-based LGBT group The Society of Lucky Mothers.
