By Pepper Fisher

SEQUIM – As of January 10 the City of Sequim has a new Mayor. Councilor Tom Ferrell, with two years left to his tenure, was elected by his peers to take over running the council meetings.

Mayor Ferrell was a guest on the Todd Ortloff Show this week and was asked what he’d like to see done differently now that he’s at the helm.

“In terms of becoming Mayor, one of the biggest things I’m going to do is try and speed the darn meetings up. We’re taking too long. We’re getting bogged down, and I think that we need to just move those along, make it more interesting for listeners and participants. So, while that sounds like not a lofty goal, it’s an important goal for me to move things along.”

Ferrell, as Deputy Mayor for the past two years, was very often on the losing end of 4-3 policy votes against what can certainly be described as a voting bloc. Three members of that bloc lost their elections in November, bringing new faces to the council. Ferrell says he hopes to see an easing of the contentiousness on the council going forward.

“What I want to do is have just, unbelievably, full participation from seven members. Not one member, not two members, but all seven members. The other thing is, when we talk amongst the seven of us, I want just straight dialogue. Honest, straight, trusting dialogue. And instead of being coy, or instead of having hidden motives, let’s just talk openly and honestly. I think we will acquiesce and come together.”

Ferrell says he’s not a big fan of Zoom meetings and is looking forward to getting back together in face-to-face council meetings. Once that happens, he’s got some fresh ideas for that as well.

“I’m hoping, once we get back in council, I’ll be talking to the council about this, but we typically vote and we typically go seat 1-7. I want to change that around so no one anticipates six votes ahead of them or five votes ahead of them. Just kind of, just do things to really get the council super-involved. We also may have some options in the future to have another councilor run the meeting. Sitting beside me, I think sharing the understanding of what the Mayor’s going through, I think is going to be very helpful.”

You can see Mayor Tom Ferrell in action at the next Sequim City Council meeting on Monday, January 24. Sorry…via Zoom.