Spokane City Council chooses 7 finalists for vacant seat ahead of planned Monday vote

The Spokane City Council narrowed down a list of 32 applicants for the seat Council President Breean Beggs vacated to seven finalists ahead of a planned vote at Monday’s council meeting.

The finalists include former Spokane City Council and Spokane Public Schools board candidates Randy Ramos and Katey Treloar, respectively, as well as political newcomers.

Carl Maxey Center Board President Betsy Wilkerson, who is the owner of Moore’s Assisted Living, is among the finalists, as is Auntie’s Bookstore owner John Waite.

Finalist Alan Chatham is an artist and founder of Laboratory, an artist residency program that supports a gallery of interactive art installations. And Pia Hallenberg Christensen is a former Spokesman-Review reporter and former Spokane Humane Society development director.

Michelle Weaver is a consultant at Opt2Inspire LLC. Before that she was chief operating officer from 2014 to spring 2019 of Embassy Management, a Spokane-based company that owned Aacres supported-living facilities. A woman with developmental disabilities living in a Aacres facility in February died after she was given cleaning vinegar instead of medication by a caretaker.

“We had a number of great applicants with excellent qualifications and it was difficult to narrow the finalists to these seven individuals,” Beggs said in a statement.

City Council members will interview the finalists during an open public meeting at 10 a.m. Monday in the City Council Briefing Center in the lower level of City Hall.

Council members are expected to vote on who will fill the seat during the regular council meeting at 6 p.m.