Meet new and returning mayors of Kennewick, Pasco, Richland, West Richland
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Three Tri-Cities select council-appointed mayors for two-year terms through 2027.
- Pasco’s Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem swap roles.
- West Richland elected Fred Brink as strong-mayor.
Three of the four Tri-Cities communities began 2026 with new mayors.
Kennewick, Pasco and Richland each select an honorary mayor from the elected city council to serve two-year terms. The individuals selected this week will serve until Dec. 31, 2027.
West Richland voters elect their mayor directly under a different form of government.
Here are the folks who will be running meetings, inviting scout troops to lead the Pledge of Allegiance, and representing their respective cities at ribbon cuttings, state of the city banquets and other gatherings.
Pasco elects Grimm
Pasco’s mayor and mayor pro tem are switching seats.
The city council on Monday night elected Charles Grimm to be mayor in unanimous 6-0 fashion, then chose David Milne to serve as mayor pro tem in a 5-1 vote.
“I’m very honored to have the confidence of the council, and the support of my family and others. Just pray the good lord guides me with wisdom as we go forward as a city,” Grimm said during the meeting.
Pasco’s mayor presides over council meetings, attends community events, assigns commission and board work to the city council members, appoints community members to boards, and issues proclamations.
Grimm is a longtime grocer and small business owner who was first elected to city council in 2023. He owns the Grocery Outlet store off Road 68, and has lived in Franklin County for nearly two decades.
He’s serving his first four-year term on city council.
He stepped up in August to serve as mayor pro tem after former Mayor Pete Serrano vacated his seat mid-term to work for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington.
Milne is the council’s senior public official. He was first sworn into office in December 2017.
He’s the owner of Milne Nail Power Tool and Repair, the largest independent tool store in Southeastern Washington.
Councilman Leo Perales was the lone dissenter in the vote to elect Milne as mayor pro tem. He told the Herald he would have liked to see another person step into that leadership position.
Kennewick chooses McShane
Jason McShane was elected Kennewick mayor after two rounds of voting, and Chuck Torelli will remain mayor pro tem.
McShane succeeds Gretl Crawford in the mayor’s seat. Crawford did not seek re-election to her Ward 1 seat last year.
“I think that the work that we do here at the city is incredibly important and the support that council provides staff as they go about executing work on a daily basis is an important thing, and I feel like I’m suited to do that with my background and experience,” McShane said. He was first appointed to the city council in 2023 to an at-large council position, and won election last year to the Ward 1 seat. McShane works as an assistant district manager with Kennewick Irrigation District.
The votes were taken Tuesday night at the city council’s first business meeting of the year.
Kennewick’s governance procedures automatically nominates all seven councilmembers for mayor and mayor pro tem. Prior to the vote, councilmembers can decline the nomination.
The council then conducts multiple rounds of voting until one candidate receives a majority four or more votes for the position.
During the first round, McShane received three votes, Torelli got two votes and new Councilman Brad Klippert got two votes.
Torelli and Millbauer switched their votes during the second round to elect McShane as mayor, 5-2. Then Torelli was nominated mayor pro tem, 5-2, in a single round of voting.
Klippert backed himself for both mayor and mayor pro tem, and received support from Trumbo in all three rounds of voting.
Torelli was appointed to the city council in 2019 and won election to an at-large seat in 2023. He’s a retired manager from the Hanford site’s plutonium finishing plant, and U.S. Navy veteran.
Richland keeps Richardson
Richland Mayor Theresa Richardson will serve a second two-year term as the city’s mayor after a unanimous selection Tuesday night.
Richardson joined the council in 2022 and became mayor in 2024.
Councilman Shane VanDyke was elected mayor pro tem on a 4-2 vote, defeating Councilwoman Jhoanna Jones for the role.
Jones was nominated for both mayor and mayor pro tem by Councilman Kurt Maier. Both, however, raised their hands to support Richardson for mayor but split with the rest of the council on the mayor pro tem vote.
The role of mayor in Richland carries no extra power, but includes a small bump in pay. The mayor receives $250 per month in addition to the monthly council salary of $1,396.
The mayor presides over meetings and is recognized as the head of city government for ceremonial purposes such as ribbon cuttings and special events.
Under Richland’s council-manager form of government, responsibility for overseeing city government falls to the city manager, Jon Amundson. The city manager reports to the city council.
Also on Tuesday, the city clerk swore in three of the four people who won new terms in the November 2025 election, Kurt Maier, Pat Holten and Ryan Whitten.
The fourth, the late Donald Landsman, died before the election and his seat is officially vacant. The city is accepting applications from qualified residents interested in filling the post until the 2026 election.
Maier and Holten will serve four-year terms. Whitten will serve a two-year term under a quirk of Richland codes.
In Richland, the council member who wins election with the fewest votes is given a two-year term. In 2025, that was Whitten.
The system ensures that at least four of the seven council seats are on the ballot in election years. That ensures Richland voters have the opportunity to select a new council majority every two years.
West Richland elects Brink
Fred Brink succeeded West Richland’s long-time mayor, Brent Gerry, with the start of the new year.
Unique among the Tri-Cities, West Richland has a mayor-council form of government, sometimes called a “strong mayor” system. It places responsibility for managing the city with the mayor and treats it as a full-time position.
Brink, previously the city’s mayor pro tem, began taking on mayoral responsibilities under Gerry. Brink won election in November with more than 71% of the vote.
