Applications are now being accepted at Rainier City Hall for those interested in being appointed to a city council vacancy, Mayor Bob Shaw announced during the council’s regular meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 10.
The vacancy was created after former Rainier City Councilor Ryan Roth resigned last month after getting a new job that required him to move to Minnesota.
According to Shaw, the city has already received three applications for the vacancy. The deadline to apply is Nov. 30.
Shaw proposed holding a special meeting, tentatively scheduled for Dec. 8 at 4 p.m., to hold the public interview process for the applicants prior to the council making an appointment during its next regular meeting.
Interested applicants must be registered to vote and reside within Rainier city limits. The application can be found on the city’s website at https://tinyurl.com/4eesr3vk. For more information, call Rainier City Clerk-Treasurer Tami Justice at 360-446-2265, extension 3.
It was noted that Roth, along with being a councilor, had also been appointed by the council as mayor pro tem for this year, though no councilor made any motion to nominate a new mayor pro tem, as Shaw stated he did not intend to miss a meeting for the remainder of the year — which would require the mayor pro tem to fill in and run the council meetings.
“We got one more meeting in November and one in December I’m definitely going to be at,” Shaw said.
During the first regular meeting of 2027 in January, the council will appoint a new mayor pro tem for the year.
And while the City of Rainier’s 2027 preliminary budget is still in the works, with a public hearing on the budget scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 24, at 5 p.m. inside Rainier City Hall, councilors held a public hearing for the city’s 2027 property tax and approved the ad valorem tax ordinance with the state-allowed annual property tax levy increase.
“We’re just doing the standard 1% levy (increase), like every other year,” Justice explained to the councilors.
During his report, Councilor Tom Arnbrister raised concerns about the readiness of the city’s designated emergency shelter, the Rainier Senior Center, located at 108 Michigan St. S. in Rainier.
“They don’t have a generator for their lights, the electricity, that kind of stuff,” Arnbrister said.
He reached out to Thurston County Emergency Management for assistance, and while Emergency Management grants are available to purchase a generator, the grant application process doesn’t open until after the start of the new year.
“If things go bad, especially with the seniors, so they have some place to go for heat and food and that type of stuff,” said Arnbrister.
Since it’s part of the city’s emergency management program, Arnbrister proposed the city apply for the grant in order to streamline the grant application process. Justice stated the city could apply for the grant, but it would be better if senior center staff applied, as city staff would “run into a pickle” with laws preventing the gifting of public funds.
