New member appointed to Blaine City Council

Blaine resident Jaime Arnett, l., was sworn in by city clerk Samuel Crawford, r., after she was appointed to Blaine City Council at its January 28 meeting. Six individuals had applied for the vacant seat. Photo by Stefanie Donahue

By Jami Makan

Blaine resident Jaime Arnett was appointed to Blaine City Council on January 28, filling the position left vacant by Meg Olson who resigned in November.

Arnett was sworn in immediately and took her seat on the council.

“I was a little surprised to be sworn in right away,” she said. “They didn’t mention that was how it was going to happen, but I loved it because I have an urgency to get involved.”

Blaine City Council voted unanimously to appoint Arnett, but no explanation was provided for her appointment in public session. Deliberations occurred in a private session that lasted about 20 minutes.

Blaine city councilmember Charlie Hawkins recused himself from the discussion because his son, Colin Hawkins, was one of the six individuals who applied for the vacant seat.

Arnett is the office manager at Boundary Fish Company and a grant writer for Bellingham-based nonprofit Animals as Natural Therapy. Previously, she worked for Habitat for Humanity, both in Washington and Oregon, and has helped bring a bullying awareness workshop to the Blaine school district.

Arnett said she applied for the position because she has a deep passion for the community and sees her new role as an opportunity to bring positive change to Blaine. She said she will aim to help improve the city’s financial position and support actions that attract business, investment and tourism to the area.

“I’m really looking forward to generating some revenue and balancing our city budget,” Arnett said.

Blaine City Council spent several hours interviewing candidates earlier in the day. In addition to Arnett, Colin Hawkins, David Gallion, Garth Baldwin, Jodi Greene and Steven Tojek applied for the position, which represents Ward 2.

Candidates were asked a slew of questions, including whether they could devote enough time to serve; what they believed is the goal of the Blaine City Council; how they approach controversial or complicated issues; what skills and experience they possess; and what are their top priorities for the city. They were also asked about how they felt about the city’s use of eminent domain, and how they would approach the city budget.

The city is currently using reserve funds to meet general fund needs.

Following the candidate interviews, council went into an executive session to evaluate the qualifications of the candidates. When they returned, three candidates – Colin Hawkins, Jodi Greene and Jaime Arnett – were nominated for the position and Arnett was unanimously appointed.

The council did not provide their reasoning for how they narrowed the field down to three, or why they ultimately selected Arnett.

“I am thrilled that we had so many great, solid candidates come forward,” said Blaine city councilmember Alicia Rule. “I appreciate each one of them taking time to apply.”

During the meeting, the council also made appointments to the Blaine Planning Commission and the park and cemetery board.