Two different advisory boards and committees in Yelm will welcome additional members, as Mayor Joe DePinto appointed three new members to the parks and tree advisory committees during Nov. 12’s Yelm City Council meeting.
Jabeth Schaffer was appointed to the Parks Advisory Committee, while Robina Gaines and Steven Berg were each appointed to the Tree Advisory Board. Each of the three applicants were approved by a 5-1 vote, with Councilor Joshua Crossman being the lone “no” vote for each of the three applicants.
Councilor Joseph Richardson, who was reviewing the applications prior to voting on DePinto’s appointments, noted that one applicant applied in April of 2023 and asked why it took so long for that position to be filled.
“We do keep applications on file forever. If somebody vacates a seat, we usually go to the next person up. That’s why, at the time, the person wasn’t chosen for whatever reasons,” DePinto said.
Councilor Terry Kaminski asked DePinto if there was a recent applicant for Yelm’s Arts Commission, to which DePinto said there were some but he didn’t think they’d “pass politically” on the Yelm City Council.
“There was one application submitted after these were already in the process within the last couple of days,” City Clerk Kathy Linnemeyer confirmed.
DePinto reiterated that people have applied for the commission but didn’t believe the council would approve them.
“I don’t want to bring up a nomination if it’s not going to pass the council. As we look at our councilors handbook, we will be redoing this process as well,” DePinto said. “We’ll be looking into it, and we’ll absolutely take recommendations of what we’ve had in the past for these nominations and the appointment process. Council will have the opportunity to change that if they wish.”
