At Tuesday night’s (June 12) special meeting, Marli Larimer was appointed in a 6-0 vote to the Kent City Council.
Larimer replaces Tina Budell, who resigned from the Council in April to take a job in Chicago.
She was one of seven finalists interviewed for the position; others included Hira Singh Bhullar, Suzanne Cameron, Sara Franklin, Zandria Michaud, Mizanur Rahman and Bill Shorr.
As part of Larimer’s role, she will serve on the Economic and Community Development and the Parks and Human Services Committees.
A graduate of Kentwood High School and the University of Washington, Larimer is a digital product manager for Starbucks and a married mother of two school-age children in the Kent School District. As an active community volunteer, Larimer has worked with the Evergreen City Ballet, Soos Creek Elementary PTA and Girls Scouts of Western Washington. In addition, she helped organize the Kent Community Unity Rally in 2017.
“We had some excellent candidates to choose from. Each brought something different to the table, but we only had one spot to fill,” said Council President Bill Boyce. “We chose Marli because we thought she would be a good fit for the existing council. She’s a visionary and passionate about economic development and parks. We are really looking forward to making her a part of the team.”
“I’m excited to roll up my sleeves and get to work with the Council and Mayor Ralph to tackle the tough issues facing our city. The city can’t tackle the fiscal cliff alone. We have to continue to have open, productive dialog with our residents and our regional and state partners in order to generate new ideas and fresh thinking. I want to make sure our economic development is smart, fair and balances the needs of both our business community and our families,” said Larimer.
After being selected, Larimer was sworn in by Mayor Dana Ralph. She will attend her first council meeting on Tuesday, June 19.
According to the city, Larimer will serve until an election for the post takes place in November 2019. She will then be eligible to run for the council.
The Council consists of seven members who are directly elected by the citizens for four-year terms.
Each councilmember receives a monthly salary of $1,265.
According to her LinkedIn profile, Larimer has:
“Over 15 years’ experience delivering digital solutions and brand expressions on a global scale. I have expertise across business strategy, product management, user-centered design and operational excellence. Part writer and artist, part salesman and part diplomat, I specialize in creating alignment between executive vision, customer needs and business value in order to deliver beautiful, right-sized products and services.”
