Pocatello Mayor Brian Blad has narrowed the list of potential new City Council members to 13, according to a Monday news release from the city.
Two of those applicants will be picked to fill seats 2 and 3, which were vacated by Claudia Ortega and Roger Bray, who resigned along with Christine Stevens effective Sept. 1.
Retired Pocatello Police Chief Scott Marchand was selected by Gov. Brad Little to fill Stevens’ seat. He took office on Sept. 1, restoring a quorum to the council.
According to the news release, the city received a total of 38 applications for the vacant seats.
The 13 potential City Council members include Ken Bullock, Fallon Deatherage-Bradley, Whitney Fenwick, Jim Johnston, Ali Khan, Rainbow Maldonado, Corey Mangum, Ed Munson, Brent Nichols, Gabriel Rodriguez, Jonah Saunders, Ruby Walsh and Emma Watts.
The candidates will now go through an additional interview process before Blad submits his final selections at a future City Council meeting, where the sitting members of the council will vote to confirm them. The news release stated that Blad expects the positions to be filled by the end of October.
“Thank you to everyone who submitted an application,” Blad said in the news release. “I am so proud of our community and proud to see so many wanting to make a difference by offering their services to the citizens of Pocatello. It was a very difficult task to narrow the candidate list down for interviews. All have good ideas for Pocatello’s future.”
The new council members will serve until January 2024.