One of these 4 applicants will fill a vacant Pasco council seat
Last month, Pete Serrano left an open District 4 seat on the Pasco City Council when he was sworn in as the interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington.
Now the Pasco City Council is getting ready to appoint a new person to fill the vacant position.
On Monday night, the council reviewed seven candidates and selected a smaller pool to interview.
The city requires that they live in Pasco’s District 4 and are registered to vote.
The candidates are:
- Tanya Bowers – Bowers is a former Pacific Northwest National Laboratory administrator. She most recently worked at PNNL for four years as its DEI/equal employment opportunity manager. She was a member and chair of the Pasco Planning Commission from 2015-2022. She ran unsuccessfully for the Port of Pasco commission last year.
- Abel Campos – Campos is a former member of the Pasco Planning Commission.
- Joe Cotta – Cotta is the lead pastor at Harvest Valley Calvary Chapel in Prosser. He ran in 2022 for a seat in the state Legislature in District 8. He was defeated by Rep. April Connors.
- Patrick Jones – Jones is a current member of the Pasco Planning Commission.
Three other candidates applied. They were Rob Waiters, Ruslan Stetskiy and Travis Gallion.
The council discussed the qualifications of the candidates in a closed session and narrowed the list to four.
Interviews will be conducted at a meeting on Sept. 15 that’s open to the public.
The council plans to appoint the new council member on the same night.
That person will serve until the end of this year, and then the council will have to go through the same process again and name someone to fill the new two-year term that begins in January 2026. Voters will get to choose their own replacement in November 2027.
Serrano was running unopposed this year for another four years on the council, so his name will still appear on the November ballot.
The council already appointed its new mayor since Serrano resigned. Mayor David Milne was selected Aug. 18 to fill the position through the end of the year. He was previously mayor pro-tem.
District 2 Councilman Charles Grimm was appointed mayor pro-tem, replacing Milne.
The mayoral post for the rapidly growing city of 80,000 is largely ceremonial.
The council will also appoint a new mayor in January 2026.
This story was originally published September 9, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
