Washougal City Council fills Alex Yost’s position

A retired attorney has succeeded in her second attempt to join the Washougal City Council.

Washougal City Council members this week appointed Janice Killion to fill the council’s vacant No. 4 position during a virtual meeting on Monday, Jan. 10. Killion applied for the same spot in 2018, but lost to Alex Yost. Yost retained her council seat during the 2019 general election, but resigned halfway through her term, in December 2021.

“I’m really looking forward to helping wherever I can,” Killion said before being sworn in by Mayor Rochelle Ramos.

The six sitting council members interviewed Washougal residents Killion, Pam Rollins, Bill Durgan, Julian Good, John Henriksen and Brian Johnson for the position, brought back Killion and Rollins for a second round of questioning, then cast their final votes, four of which went to Killion.

“This was tough,” Councilmember Molly Coston said. “(We had) six highly qualified people, so I’m very, very pleased with the level of applicants that we had. It was a difficult decision.”

Killion practiced law for 19 years, mostly as a public agency attorney for the city of Santa Rosa, California, and Napa County.

“I’m a public agency attorney by trade and practice, so I know the legal duties and limitations of government — public records, open-meeting laws, ethics, public contracting, federal and state funding, and all of that,” she told the council. “I don’t need an education on government. I want to serve on the city council because the last decades of my career were spent representing local governments. I’m a public servant at heart, for better or worse.”

Killion, who moved to Washougal in 2017, volunteers as a court appointed special advocate for foster care youth in Clark County. She also served as a member of the Clark County Clean Water Commission from 2018 to 2020.

In her application, she wrote that she’s “diplomatic” and a “strong team player,” with “efficient time management, exemplary research and writing skills and respect for compliance in all regulated environments.”

“I’m also a really good listener,” she told the council. “I’m a trained mediator and adept at finding consensus. (I believe that) listening to the public and fellow council members is paramount to building trust, and being open to varying viewpoints allows opportunities to explore creative solutions. Everyone wants to be heard, and I listen. My best skill is listening to as many different viewpoints as I can get my ears on, then culling them into (a place) where we can agree, even when we have hugely diverse opinions about what’s best for a community.”

Killion said that while her interests are “varied and broad,” she’d like to focus on increasing the amount of public gathering spaces in Washougal.

“It’s difficult to have a community when there’s no common place for community members to gather, run into each other while doing errands or out for coffee,” she said. “I know we have some difficulties with downtown; it’s been a struggle for decades now, it appears. If it can’t happen downtown, (it would be great to have) another space somewhere else in the community to draw small shops and cafes and event spaces to help pull citizens together in a time when it’s really easy to see how divided we are.”

Rollins, a member of the United States Coast Guard, opened Forest Moon Yoga Studio in downtown Washougal in 2021. Coston said that Rollins showed “great energy and vitality” during her interviews and invited her to stay involved with city activities.

“I am invested in the Washougal community as both a small business owner and citizen,” Rollins wrote in her application. “I feel qualified to hold this position because of my military background as well as having an inside pulse on the community due to the nature of my business. Since moving to Washougal, I have donated time and money to local charities as well as participated in and held community events.”

Durgan, who unsuccessfully ran for a Washougal School Board position in 2019, is a retired laborer and construction superintendent. Good, a New Zealand native, works as a district manager for ABB, a Switzerland-based electrical equipment and technology company. Johnson is a processor for Home Mortgage Experts, Inc., a San Diego, California-based mortgage bank company.

Henriksen works for Kittelson & Associates, a Portland-based civil engineering firm, and co-owns Lunchmoney Indoor Skatepark in Washougal with his partner, Washougal Mayor Rochelle Ramos, who voted for Johnson and Rollins after the first round of interviews.

“City councils and other municipal governing bodies cannot establish their own protocols or procedures in these contexts,” City Manager David Scott told the Post-Record, after being asked about a potential conflict of interest with Ramos voting for council applicants that included her life and business partner. “Mr. Henriksen meets the statutory eligibility requirements to serve on the council. Statutory conflict of interest limitations for councilors do not apply to this situation. Mayor Ramos is legally able to fully participate in the interviews and voting process for the council’s appointment to fill the vacancy.”