The council also elected Linda Glover as the new mayor pro tem
VANCOUVER — After more than two years of seeking a spot on Vancouver City Council, Sarah Fox was sworn in during the council’s Monday meeting this week.
The former US Army intelligence officer becomes the first female veteran to serve on the council. Her election also gives the city its first duly-elected council with a female majority.
Fox was elected with more than 67 percent of the vote during the November general election, defeating Jeanne Stewart. She replaces Bill Turley, who retired, in the council’s sixth seat.
Fox, who works as a city planner for Camas, first applied to fill the vacancy left when Scott Campbell was elected posthumously, leaving a vacancy. Laurie Lebowsky was ultimately named to fill the seat, and then won election to the seat against Fox in 2018.
Last year, Fox again sought to fill a vacancy left when Alishia Topper was elected to become Clark County treasurer. That seat ended up going to Erik Paulsen, who also won election to finish Topper’s term in November.
Councilors Bart Hansen and Ty Stober were also sworn in Monday night after winning re-election in November.
During Monday’s meeting, Stober said he would like the council to consider having Mayor Anne McEnerny-Ogle send a letter to the president’s administration, advising them that the city would continue receiving refugees from other countries.
Under executive order 13888, signed in September of last year, the federal government decided it would only resettle refugees in places where the state and local authorities had specifically said they were willing to accept them. Both the state of Washington and Clark County have responded that they are willing to accept refugees, which means the city of Vancouver doing so would be solely ceremonial.
“I think expressing that sentiment will speak loudly to the people in our community who may be living with the trauma of having to leave their homes, and feeling marginalized because of it,” said Stober.
“We have actually been accepting refugees into the city of Vancouver for more than a decade,” said Mayor McEnerny-Ogle, naming many of the groups that help to find shelter and housing for immigrants. “So this particular executive order from Washington is… I’m not sure why they have written an executive order when we have been doing it for ages.”
Several council members expressed interest in the idea, but said they would like to hear more information before voting on a resolution.
New mayor pro tem
The council also elected Linda Glover, the Position 3 councilor, to become the new mayor pro tem for the city, replacing Bart Hansen, who previously held the role.
Glover, a former teacher and owner of a furniture consignment store downtown, was elected in 2017. She was nominated by Councilor Lebowsky, and approved unanimously by the rest of the council.
The mayor pro tem is assigned to run meetings or tend to city business in the mayor’s absence.
