Lora Petso named new Edmonds City Council president
Incoming Council President Lora Petso presents a plaque of appreciation to outgoing President Strom Peterson.
The Edmonds City Council on Tuesday night unanimously elected Lora Petso as their 2013 president, and Adrienne Fraley-Monillas as council president pro tem.
Petso, who served this past year as council president pro tem, was originally elected to the Edmonds City Council in 2000 but lost her bid for re-election in 2003. She was appointed by the council in 2010 to fill a vacant seat, and elected by voters last November for a four-year term.
A southwest Edmonds resident, Petso runs an actuarial consulting business with her husband Colin Southcoate-Want and also serves as a commissioner for the Olympic View Water District.
After her appointment, Petso announced Council committee appointments for the 2013 year. She also read a resolution thanking outgoing two-term President Strom Peterson for his service. The audience gave Peterson a standing ovation, and Mayor Dave Earling thanked the outgoing council president for “a great job.”
Adrienne Fraley-Monillas
Fraley-Monillas, who was elected in 2009, lives in the Lake Ballinger neighborhood.
The council spent a short time in executive session then returned to the council chambers to publicly approve a $325,000 settlement with Precision Earthworks over the Haines Wharf project. The company had originally filed a $951,000 claim against the city that eventually ballooned to $1.2 million, according to Public Works Director Phil Williams, but the final amount was reached following mediation.
Council committee assignments were made at tonight’s meeting. I wasn’t able to hear all of the assignments, but I did hear that Councilmember Diane Buckshnis was not selected to return to the Council’s Finance Committee.
I have not always seen eye to eye with Diane, and I supported her opponent in the last election, but there’s no doubt in my mind that she is the most qualified councilmember for the Finance Committee. I know the role of that committee, as I have attended virtually everyone of its meetings for the past 7 years. Members who add value are ones who have finance and accounting training and experience. Ms.Buckshnis, alone, has those qualifications.
I urge Council President Petso to rethink this situation and return Councilmember Buckshnis to the Finance Committee.
Thank you Ron. Even though I no longer live in Edmonds I am still very interested in Edmonds and have many heartstrings for our lovely unique city. It is incomprehensible that Diane would be removed from the Finance committee when she is the only one truly qualified for the job! She has changed the way Edmonds ‘ citizens get information regarding the way moneys are spent. She has brought transparency in City Hall, something that was much needed. Edmonds’ citizens owe her a lot as she has given much of herself for the city. I think it is a great mistake to have removed her from the Finance Committee and I urge Council Pres.Lora Petso to rethink this decision.
Go SeaHawks!
As an Edmonds resident, I’m interested in who was appointed and what qualifications does this person have for the job? Why was Diane removed?
Lisa:
You could contact Council President Petso to find out why Diane was removed. Her email is: lora.petso@ci.edmonds.wa.us
Thanks Ron… re: 1… That means a lot coming from you, who clearly has not seen eye-to-eye with Council member Buckshnis over the years.
I was both angry and disgusted when I noticed that Ms. Buckshnis is being removed from the Finance Committee! It’s one thing to have differences of opinion on issues… which I think is healthy for a decision-making body; the worst characteristic of any decision-making body is group think. But it’s an entirely different thing when it comes to committee appointments. These should be made pragmatically, when possible and appropriate, with an emphasis on assigning council members that are educated, have experience, and demonstrated capabilities, achievement, and interest in a particular area. Ms Buckshnis’s educational background is in finance, she has worked as both a banker and financial regulator (overseeing investigation of the US Savings & Loan scandal that preceded the more recent financial collapse), participated in an international consortium to establish the finance system in Lithuania after the fall/departure of the Soviet Union… as a council candidate and council member -in the face of open hostility (and “slander”) from the Haakensen administration and other council members- she forged ahead with a focus on revising and improving our financial policies and the quality of our financial reporting… she was the key advocate for a “budgeting for priorities” approach that we are set to begin implementing. And in the process, has established a productive rapport with our finance director, Shawn Hunstock. Is there any other council member that has worked harder and with more determination -in the face of often great resistance & criticism- to improve our city’s finances, financial reporting, and financial oversight. I think NOT! Let me repeat… NOT!!! And are there any more important issues facing Edmonds today than those pertaining to our fiscal health and sustainability??? I strongly urge Council President Petso (and the council at-large) to reverse this decision.
good choice
OK folks it’s early in the game. Certainly there is a back story we have not heard yet.
Lets not jump to conclusions, this can’t be the real deal. Lets give it a couple of days.
The back story will surface.
i don’t think Petso knows what email is. will this mean she will now step down at the water district? doubtful IMHO but she should do what is right by the community and not monopolize elected seats in this community. too bad my neighbors are so blind to this scam.
Breathe, everybody… Breathe! We Edmonds citizens are “in good hands!” Congratulations to both Lora Petso and Adrienne Fraley-Monillas! “Sterling” choices I must say!!
Eve Wellington…
Congratulations to Ms. Petso and Ms. Fraley Monillas and best wishes for success in 2013. A huge thank you to Strom Peterson for carrying this significant burden for the past two years.
I noticed in the above article discussion of a settlement with Precision Earthworks over the Haines Wharf project.
The earliest version of the Capital Improvement Project (CIP) Description related to Haines Wharf Park that I ever saw estimated the Project Cost for the entire park was $140,000.
Now that the Precision Earthworks Claim or Claims appears to have been settled for $325,000, can a final cost for the project be calculated? I hope the City will be transparent and provide the citizens a final accounting of the complete external and internal cost of this project.
A year and a half ago, I tried to calculate the total costs for this project and came up with the following:
Design Phase – $347, 320
Right of Way Acquisition – $40,000
Project Bid – $1,634,668
Change Orders covered by 10 percent contingency fund – $163, 467
Change Orders exceeding 10 percent contingency fund – $560,633
Total external project costs before Equitable Adjustments – $2,746,088.
If that estimate was in the ballpark, we can now add the following to the external cost. The following may not be a complete list:
Hainline’s Original Contract for $45,000
May, 2012 Revised Change Order No. 11 for $101,173(Not sure if ever paid?)
The December 7, 2012 Kulchin Settlement for $139,100
Last night’s Precision Earthwork’s settlement for $325,000
Supplemental Agreement with Hainline for $116,000 (Not sure how much was spent)
This possibly puts us in the vicinity of $3.3 to $3.5 million before potentially large internal costs are even considered. I imagine City staff incurred significant expenses on a project this size and during the subsequent litigation period. I imagine our City Attorney spent significant time on this project, especially during the extensive litigation period.
As I said earlier, hopefully the City will be transparent and provide the citizens a final accounting of the complete external and internal cost of this project.
The State Auditor represented the following to me in an email dated April 3, 2012:
“I can let you know that we did not review the Haines Wharf project during the 2010 audit because of pending litigation. Our office typically does not review areas with pending litigation because we need to wait and see what the Courts decide.”
Now that this pending litigation has apparently been settled, I wonder if the State Auditor’s “wait and see” period is over? Will the State Auditor finally review this entire project, (including the Change Orders that exceeded the 10 percent contingency fund), during their next audit?
Eve your comments are right on
Diane Bucksnis without shadow of doubt is by far and away the most qualified person on the council and probably in the city to be on the finance Committee. The changes made regarding transparency and efficiency are nothing less then remarkable. Diane fought against waste and ineffeciancy and without her bulldogged efforts we would still be working in less then ideal conditions.
One of the best hires we have made as a city is our finance director Mr. Shawn Hunstock. Diane played an integral part in making sure we got the best.
Here we have the most talented person on the council being left off of one of the most important committees. What can possibly be going on here?
Related to my post #10 above, the City Council Finance Committee Agenda for next Wednesday afternoon contains an accounting summary of the Haines Wharf Park and Walkway Project. The accounting summary relates to the design, right of way and construction phases and is based on Eden Financial reports. The summary is for the time period between 2006 and January 2013.
The accounting summary indicates the Project’s total costs equaled $3,704,064.00 from 2006 – January, 2013.
Staff time of $183,626 is included in the accounting summary.