Council swears in new members

Melissa Stearns, George Blush and Tom Gilmore were sworn in Tuesday evening as new members of the Shelton City Council, followed by the seven-member council unanimously re-electing Eric Onisko as mayor. Joe Schmit was re-elected deputy mayor.

Stearns, a local Realtor and lifelong Shelton resident, defeated eight-year incumbent Kathy McDowell with 60.63% for a four-year term as council member 2.

Blush, the owner of Nita's Koffee Shop and the nonprofit 5XL Shelton Food Bank that provides pet food to pet owners, won a four-year-term as council member No. 1 with 57.61% to defeat Tristen Smith. The seat became open when James Boad, the owner of Wilde Irish Pub, declined to run for a second term.

Gilmore received 50.81% of the vote to edge Mark Frazier to be council Position no. 5. The seat opened when Deidre Peterson, who is executive director of the Shelton-Mason County Chamber of Commerce, didn't run for a second term.

The first meeting for the three new members was a brief one, clocking in at 30 minutes.

In the vote to elect a mayor, council member Miguel Gutierrez nominated Onisko for another term. No other nominations were made, which prompted Kathleen Haggard, the city's attorney, to say a vote was not required.

"I'd just like to say, congratulations, you're the newly elected mayor," she said.

In the process of picking a deputy mayor, Gutierrez nominated Schmit, and Blush nominated Sharon Schirman. Schmit won with four votes.

During public comments at the end of the meeting, McDowell said it felt "really strange" to be addressing the council from a podium after eight years on what was first the three-member Shelton City Commission before voters made it a seven-member council.

McDowell urged the council to continue to work on one of her pet projects: putting a nonvoting high school student on the council.

Downtown business owner Dean Jewett urged the three new council members to read the city ordinances so when they see "negative behavior" downtown, they will be familiar with ordinances "waiting to be enforced."

"Make downtown a positive, not a negative," he said.