Pasco council votes to keep same leaders

There will be no change in the seating order behind the Pasco City Council dais after members voted Monday night to keep the same mayor and mayor pro-tem.

Matt Watkins was re-elected by the council as mayor for another two years.

Rebecca Francik will continue to serve as mayor pro-tem, filling in for Watkins when he is absent.

“I thank you for being chosen as mayor,” Watkins said. “I will do a good job and continue on and appreciate your support.”

Watkins is a software engineer for Lockheed Martin. He has been on the council for 12 years, and held the mayor post since 2010.

Francik has represented District 5 for 19 years.

Watkins nominated Francik for mayor pro-tem, while Councilman Tom Larsen nominated and voted for Bob Hoffmann.

Hoffmann went with the rest of his colleagues in picking Francik. Councilman Al Yenney was not present because he is out of town on vacation.

Also Monday, Police Chief Bob Metzger almost had to remove a resident from the meeting who yelled at the council about the condition of downtown streets and sidewalks and refused to sit down.

Maricela Montelongo arrived after the visitors comment portion of the agenda and interrupted the meeting several times.

The council was discussing a special permit for a wireless facility as Montelongo stood up and said she wanted to “talk about what people want to talk about,” claiming the city doesn’t care about its people.

Watkins asked for the podium’s microphone to be turned off. She sat down after repeated requests, just as Metzger was approaching her.

Watkins later gave her time to address the council, and several city officials spoke with Montelongo after the meeting.

This story was originally published January 4, 2016 at 7:14 PM with the headline "Pasco council votes to keep same leaders."