Seven vie for Coupeville Town Council vacancy

A familiar face to all municipalities on Whidbey Island may join the Coupeville Town Council.

Larry Cort, formerly the Coupeville town planner, is one of seven people who applied to fill a vacancy on the five-member Coupeville Town Council.

“I threw my hat in the ring. I’m pleased to see there’s a good group that is interest edand I’m glad to be one of them,” Cort said.

He served as Coupeville’s town planner from 1996 to 2003 and is currently a project specialist overseeing Oak Harbor’s Pioneer Way project. He also spent four years as Langley’s city planner.

In addition, Gary Piazzon, Meryl Gordon, Marilyn Huemer, Ricardo Reyes, Chuck Wilkerson, and Dennis Bright also submitted letters of interest concerning the Town Council vacancy. Those letters show the candidates come from diverse backgrounds, including careers in the military, city and state government, as well as banking and finance.

The open seat was previously held by Tom Tack, who resigned his seat in mid-August after accepting a new job in New York. He was halfway through his first term on the council.

Piazzon, a physical therapist, ran for a seat on the Town Council in 2007 and lost by 87 votes. He is active in Sustainable Whidbey Coalition and is the president of the Whidbey Environmental Action Network.

Gordon has been living in Coupeville, off and on, since 1955. He graduated from Coupeville High School, retired from the civil service and served on the Coupeville School Board in the early 1970s.

Huemer has 35 years in integrated logistics with the U.S Army. She graduated from Oak Harbor High School and she has a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Washington.

Reyes, a newcomer to Coupeville, spent 20 years working for the city of Detroit, enforcing the city’s ordinances, zoning and building codes.

Wilkerson has lived in Coupeville for 25 years and served on the Town Council approximately 18 years ago. He is retired from the Washington State Department of Transportation’s maintenance division.

Bright had worked as a bank officer for Wells Fargo before becoming a farm manager for Heartfelt Farms in 2004. He said in his letter that he worked on national historic trust projects  as well as individual to corporate developers while he worked in the banking industry.

The Coupeville Town Council will interview candidates during the its Oct. 11 meeting. Conard said she hopes the Town Council will vote on a successor for Tack during that meeting.

The new town council member will serve the remainder of Tack’s term, which goes through 2013.

 

Contact Whidbey News Times Staff reporter Nathan Whalen at nwhalen@whidbeynewsgroup.com or 360-675-6611 ext. 5058.

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