A long-time Clallam Public Utility District (PUD) staffer was appointed to the Sequim City Council last week.

Councilors voted for Nicole Hartman, a city resident since March 2020, to take over council seat position 7 held by former mayor Tom Ferrell who resigned in March. She’ll serve his term through certification of the 2025 General Election, with voters deciding the candidate to complete the rest of Ferrell’s term through 2027.

Hartman, currently the PUD’s communications and government relations manager, said after her first council meeting on April 22 she feels “honored and humbled” to be selected.

She was selected from a field of seven applicants that included Kelly Burger, Ron Fairclough, Alex Fane, Jean Janis, William Stone and John Worthington; Worthington withdrew his application via email.

Councilors interviewed the candidates April 8 and April 15 in open special meetings, and asked each candidate the same 10 questions. They voted 5-1 for Hartman, with Vicki Lowe nominating and voting for Burger.

After the meeting, Hartman reiterated from her council interview that the important issues to her are to add more affordable housing, adequate water resources, emergency preparedness, mental health resources, and quality of life.

Asked about her vision for the city on April 15, Hartman said she wants “all residents to feel engaged in their community and feel welcome.”

In her interview, she said part of her role as a councilor includes being responsive to recent city surveys. She also wants the city to “manage growth so that community needs are met while retaining the reason people came here to begin with.”

Regarding skills and qualities to be a successful city councilor, Hartman said someone must be transparent, ethical, have thick skin, believe in consensus-building, listen first, and be open to having their mind changed on issues.

“Opposing viewpoints can come up with some amazing out-of-the-box thinking,” she said.

City councilor Dan Butler said he appreciated Hartman’s succinctness during the interview.

Hartman said that city councilors should ask good questions to mitigate unintended consequences of their actions, and also trust city staff as subject matter experts.

She moved to Sequim in unincorporated Clallam County in 2008 from Alaska after working as marketing manager for True North Federal Credit Union in Juneau, Alaska (2000-2008). She’s been renting an apartment in the City of Sequim while looking for her “forever home.”

Once she moved, Hartman said she felt in a “good position to give back to the community.”

After the April 22 meeting, Hartman said she’ll be able to handle her PUD job and city council job well, and that her position will help her see unique things that she can bring to the city council.

“Being aware of what’s going on in both organizations will be useful for both organizations to know how can we work collaboratively to make things better,” she said.

Hartman currently serves as president of the Sequim Sunrise Rotary Club.

For more about the Sequim City Council, visit sequimwa.gov.

Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ Nicole Hartman, a City of Sequim resident since March 2020, was appointed to the city council over six other candidates on April 22. They were interviewed in special meetings over two weeks and asked the same 10 questions.