EVERETT — Councilman Don Schwab will lead council proceedings this year as president and Ben Zarlingo is vice president. The council voted 5-2 on both nominations.
The president helps decide the items in council meeting agendas and keeps order during the meeting.
Councilwoman Liz Vogeli correctly predicted who would be selected before the nominations were made. “These things all get talked about beforehand,” Vogeli said at the meeting.
Last year saw a 4-3 split to select Brenda Stonecipher over Paula Rhyne as council president. It was an emblematic split among two camps of council members who have philosophical disagreements on the direction of the city.
Rhyne was also nominated for council vice president in 2022 and 2023 and both times lost to Councilwoman Judy Tuohy under a 4-3 split.
Councilwoman Mary Fosse said last week that the 2023 selection process may have caused some council members to not bother trying to be nominated.
Rhyne said her “no” votes this year opposed to selecting Schwab and Zarlingo were in protest to the process.
Schwab and Zarlingo were elected to the council in 2021 as part of adding council districts.
Councilman Scott Bader was sworn in last week to return to council. In November, Bader won election over Demi Chatters for Stonecipher’s seat.
