Pasco Council will interview 4 applicants for vacant seat. 2 from immigrant communities
The Pasco City Council will interview four candidates on Monday and make a decision on who will fill a vacant council seat for the next year.
The shortlist was announced in a Thursday news release from the city, and includes Zulema Abastillas, Irving Brown Sr., Ryan Jones and Marianna Polyukh.
Eleven applicants originally applied, but councilors and city staff narrowed the list following a closed-door meeting on Tuesday.
Council District 3 represents neighborhoods in the northeastern part of Pasco, around the Tri-Cities Airport and Columbia Basin College.
Whoever is selected to fill the seat will have to stand for reelection in 2023 to fill out the rest of the term through 2025.
Three of the four applicants are newcomers to city politics, and two work as teachers for the Pasco School District and are immigrants who’ve lived in the community most of their lives.
The seat became vacant in May after former Councilor Nikki Torres changed her voter registration to a property outside the city limits to run as a Republican for the 15th Legislative District’s senate seat.
The Candidates
Irving Brown Sr., a Pasco resident since 2008, is the human resources manager at the Red Lion Hotel and Conference Center and the executive director of the Tri-Cities Diversity and Inclusion Council.
He ran for the District 3 seat last year but failed to make it past the August primary election.
Brown has also been involved in the Miss Juneteenth pageant and scholarship event, and with the New Hope Missionary Baptist Church.
“I will work to strengthen our city’s economy with pro-growth policies that distribute development evenly across our city,” he wrote in his application.
“I will find ways to save money in our budget without compromising vital services while maintaining a culture of equity, inclusion and empowerment in our local government.”
Marianna Polyukh has lived in Pasco for 11 years and has worked at the Pasco School District for two decades.
She works as a library teacher at Columbia River Elementary. She also attended school in the district as a child.
“I feel very connected to the community of Pasco. I would love an opportunity to represent the large Ukrainian population here, being an immigrant from Kyiv, Ukraine, I feel connected to our Ukrainian and Russian speaking community in Pasco,” she wrote.
Zulema Abastillas also works in the school district, but as a special education teacher. She’s lived in the city for 12 years.
She’s been involved in the community through outreach work with local churches and church nonprofits. Her husband also works for the police department.
Responding to the city’s rapid growth is one of her top priorities.
“I want to serve on the city council because I want to use the position as a platform for aiding and supporting the diverse communities of Pasco,” Abastillas wrote. “As a first-generation American, I have experienced the struggles many Hispanic (people) face in acclimating to a different way of life. I want to find ways to better support those in need.”
Ryan Jones is a journeyman welder who currently works at Energy Northwest — Columbia Generating Station.
He’s lived in Pasco 16 years and serves as an instructor and an executive board member for the Local 598 Plumbers and Steamfitters.
Jones has also been involved in youth sports programs including the Pasco Little League, Kennewick American Youth Baseball and YMCA indoor soccer.
Where to watch
The finalists will be interviewed at Monday’s city council meeting, which starts at 6 p.m. The chosen candidate will then be sworn in and immediately seated.
Pasco City Council meetings can be streamed online on the city’s Facebook page, as well as on YouTube and on Pasco City Television on demand.
Residents can also watch Pasco city meetings on Spectrum Cable PSC-TV channel 191 in Pasco and Richland.
