During a special meeting held Thursday, Jan. 18, the Chehalis City Council selected a candidate to fill the District 1 position left vacant after former Councilor Jerry Lord resigned late last year after moving out of the city.
After an interview and a closed executive session, the Chehalis City Council unanimously appointed resident John Six to fill the vacancy. Six was only person to apply for the position.
“Thank you for stepping up to do this,” Councilor Kevin Carns said after the vote.
During the interview process, Six explained he was born and raised in Chehalis and went to school in Adna. As an adult, he ended up working for Honeywell Aerospace and is now a subcontractor and a project manager developing cockpit avionics and flight-control system training materials.
“I work completely remotely, mostly from downtown,” Six said.
He also owns his own consulting firm, John Six Consulting, LLC.
Already a member of the Chehalis Historic Preservation Commission, Six is also a founding member and vice president of a Lewis County nonprofit, the Washington Association of Culture and Arts.
“Part of our main focus is to help bring cultural programs and art and music shows … those kinds of things, to our community,” Six said.
He said he applied to fill the vacancy because he wants to make more of an impact in his community. Six added he also has pride in Chehalis and saw another chance to serve it as a council member.
Six told the councilors one of his priorities is public safety and helping the city’s police department more and eventually getting the Chehalis Fire Department its own firehouse.
He also wants to help fill existing city staff vacancies to better serve Chehalis residents.
Six said he believes the council’s job is to represent the community through collaboration and public engagement and to set policy in the city while providing budget oversight.
Now that Six has been selected as the new District 1 Chehalis city councilor, he will remain in the position until the term ends in 2027, and he will have to run for re-election if he wishes to remain on the council.
His first official Chehalis City Council meeting will take place at 5 p.m., Monday, Jan. 22 at Chehalis City Hall, 350 N. Market Blvd.
