City Council: The Empire Strikes Back

In 2025 I ran for city council (read the post). This was my first time running for any sort of elected office, and it was a fun learning experience. Three of us ran for the same city council position, facing off on the 2025 primary election. The top two, which included me, continued on with the 2025 general election. In the end I lost to my opponent, who was the incumbent councilmember.

I thought that was the end.

Then, approximately 6 months after the general election, it was announced that one of the other city council positions was opening up. The current councilmember was moving to another state, so there was a vacancy. When this happens, interested community members can submit an application to be considered for the position, and the city council votes on who will fill the vacancy for the remainder of the term.

I submitted my application (read below), which involved a questionnaire. A few weeks later, the 4 remaining city council members voted on their new member from the list of applicants. From the perspectives of both an applicant and as a member of the audience watching the proceedings, minimal public information was shared. Nothing was discussed regarding who applied, their qualifications, or how the councilmembers would make this decision. A lawyer explained that it must be at least 3 votes for yes (out of 4) for the vote to pass. If the votes were split and tied, the tie-breaking decision would go to the city mayor.

Across 2 meetings and a handful of executive sessions where they kick the public out, a decision was made. Unfortunately, I was not chosen. Even more unfortunately, it seems like people are playing small town political games. The candidate who was selected lost to me in the recent primary election, is the son of one sitting councilmember and the cousin of another, and had not set foot in city council in the last year and a half that I have been attending.

This feels gross, and I hate it even more because these are not just politicans. These are my neighbors. This isn’t a large place, and I really felt like I was getting to know these people. Maybe nothing too evil is happening, but the optics of family members voting to place family members in an elected position at least deserves an explanation.

The Letter

This just happened a few weeks ago. I have a few issues to bring up as a concerned member of the public. Below is the email I sent to address those issues.

I wanted to write and express several concerns I have related to the most recent Sumas City Council session on May 11, 2026. I apologize for the length, but I have a lot to say.

1. Surprise removal of remote video access
2. Appointment of direct family members to elective office for City Council Position No. 5
3. Accuracy of the draft meeting notes

1. Surprise removal of remote video access

Following the December 2025 flood, attendance at the Sumas City Council meetings increased significantly. Several sessions in a row, with each session separated by at least 2 weeks, requests were made to broadcast the meetings remotely. Due to flood damage, many residents were not living within Sumas, making physical attendance much more difficult. The city responded following weeks of public request and had been providing remotely accessible meetings through Zoom.

It was disappointing that this access was cut off starting in May with no prior discussion. From the bit of information mentioned at the May 11 meeting, remote meeting access was only temporarily put in place. Why was there no discussion about continuing it? Our own city buildings are not yet done with their repairs. We can see many vacant homes still in the repair process around the city. Each week there have been 3-5 virtual attendees, which is a significant amount when a regular meeting might only have 5-10 public attendees. Community members who are not residents are also interested in staying informed. For example, staff members of WCLS are heavily invested in the city council updates even if they are not living in Sumas.

The main issue on everyone’s mind is flood mitigation. As discussed repeatedly across many meetings, that is a complex problem not within the city’s power to fully solve or even meaningfully address alone. However, the City of Sumas does control how we communicate and how accessible we make our information. The lack of communication coming from the city is a sentiment I hear repeatedly in-person and read in various online comments. The video conferencing equipment already exists and is already set up. The Internet required for a remote video call is already being used during the meeting. I assume with our limited use that we are on a free plan for Zoom calls. So why did we cut one of the newest and most accessible ways for residents to be directly informed, straight from the city? And if we do need to remove remote video calls due to some unstated city limitation, why was that not discussed before shutting it down?

I cannot comment on why this happened as no information was shared with the public. But I can comment on how this looks to an outsider looking in. It looks like the city checked a box, people stopped asking for it, so the city unchecked the box. It looks like the city is removing channels of communication and reducing transparency. Viewing a meeting is a different experience than reading notes about a meeting, no matter the quality or accuracy of the note-taking.

Communication matters.

2. Appointment of direct family members to elective office for City Council Position No. 5

In the recent 2025 primary election I ran for an elected position for the first time. I had started attending city council meetings due to my involvement in Friends of the Sumas Library (FOSL). I liked going, and when I heard there was an upcoming election decided to run for what I thought at the time was a vacant position. In the end, three of us ran for the same city council position. During the primary election, Councilmember Postma and I received the most votes, moving us both on to the general election ballot.

The third candidate, David Daniels, was not chosen to move forward by the residents of this city. However, the city council just voted this third-place candidate to fill the vacant council position. This makes me question what the deciding factors were, especially when I learned that the deciding votes to both nominate and vote in David during the most recent council session came from direct family members. Councilmember Daniels is the father of candidate David Daniels, while Councilmember Clawson is David’s cousin.

The optics of this are not good, even if no nefarious plan is in motion. For a position with 5 applicants, the choice made by the council was to keep the council in the family, replacing one family member with another.

Additionally, in the last year and a half that I have been attending, I have yet to see candidate David Daniels attend a city council meeting. This includes when David was actively in a public election for the position, the time former Councilmember Jesse Clawson announced he was leaving, and even the prior meeting when applicants were reviewed but no vote took place. The first time I saw David at the Sumas city council was the session he got voted in by his family members. According to the Lynden Tribune, current Councilmember Koehler also has never seen David at a council meeting or at city events.

I understand that the current council has authority to pick the replacement, but this is an elected position. This choice does not represent our city.

3. Accuracy of the draft meeting notes

I am comparing the draft meeting notes from the council session on May 11 with my own memory and the account shared by the Lynden Tribune. The meeting notes indicate the following sequence:

• Councilmembers Clawson and Daniels nominate candidate David Daniels
• A vote takes place, with 2 in favor (Clawson, Postma), 1 against (Koehler) and 1 abstained (Daniels)
• With no majority vote, council members went to executive session to discuss
• Another vote takes place, with 3 in favor (Clawson, Postma, Daniels) and 1 against (Koehler)

This contradicts my own memory and that of the Tribune. The end result is the same, but the details matter. Here is what actually took place:

• Councilmembers Clawson and Daniels nominate candidate David Daniels
• No vote took place. Prior to any vote, Councilmember Posta requested an executive session
• A first vote takes place, with 2 in favor (Clawson, Postma), 1 against (Koehler) and 1 abstained (Daniels). When Daniels abstained, Koehler questioned this. Daniels clarified that while he was part of his son’s nomination, he was not voting for the actual decision.
• Once it was made clear that no majority vote took place, Councilmember Daniels changed his vote from “abstained” to “yes”
• The change in vote was formalized with a second vote, with 3 in favor (Clawson, Postma, Daniels) and 1 against (Koehler)

Those differences matter, especially in the context of the candidate David Daniels being the son of Councilmember Daniels and the cousin of Councilmember Clawson. The importance of this was further solidified by the conversations happening with the public while waiting outside during executive session. Many vocally questioned why Councilmember Daniels did not recuse himself from the vote/nomination process. Several members of the public indicated that he should recuse himself and believed he would.

The difference between the draft notes and what actually took place only highlights this issue. Councilmember Daniels recognized the conflict of interest and tried to work around it with his own admission that he was part of the nomination, not the vote. Councilmember Daniels demonstrated how performative that “abstained” vote for his son was by immediately and vocally changing his vote as soon as the majority rules were clarified that a 2-1 would not pass.

A video recording, such as one publicly accessible through Zoom, would have helped clarify exactly what happened. Unfortunately we turned that off without explaining why.

The Application

Here are my answers to the supplemental questions included with my city council application.

1. Why are you interested in serving on the Sumas City Council?

My involvement in Friends of the Sumas Library (FOSL) has caused me to overlap with many members of the Sumas City Council. While my first attendance at city council was to seek city approval for FOSL’s first adult-centric event, Valentine & Wine, my real on-boarding was convincing the mayor to let children throw pies at his face during the Sumas Fall Carnival.

After attending several city council meetings for FOSL purposes, I found that I liked being more involved. I set a recurring alarm and started attending just to know what was happening in my home and how I could help. I love this town, I love its people, and I want to be of service.

2. What do you think the Sumas City Council’s role in municipal government should be?

I believe the city council should be the bridge between residents and local government. Members of the local government are employees of the city, working for and being paid by the city. Their day to day is city business.

On the contrary, elected members of the city council are first and foremost residents of the city. While they are invested in the city, they are not city employees which inherently gives them an outside perspective. They are uniquely positioned to weigh in on city decisions from the perspective of the city resident. Hard decisions must sometimes be made, and I believe the Sumas City Council’s role in municipal government is ensuring whatever direction the future holds for Sumas is to the benefit of those of us that live here.

3. How does your specific experience make you qualified to serve as a City Council member?

Since 2023 I have been an active member of the local nonprofit Friends of the Sumas Library (FOSL). FOSL is a community-focused group. We believe that the library represents an essential space that benefits everyone in the area, offering a community hub specifically to bring people together. Because of that, nearly everything we do promotes not just our library branch but Sumas itself and our neighboring areas.

Starting in 2026 I took a more active role, now serving on the FOSL board of directors as the Secretary. In that position, my primary focus is information sharing and communication with our community. I hope to bring that same focus to the Sumas city council.

4. What is your level of understanding of the City of Sumas’ budget,and how would your personal or professional budget management experience inform your budget priorities as a Council Member?

I have no specific knowledge of the City of Sumas’ budget beyond the information shared with the general public during city council budget discussions. That said, my background is in mathematics education and data analytics so I feel well equipped to contribute to the conversation.

It is hard to compare my personal budget approach with that of the city, because what works for my household of two is not what will work for a city of over a thousand. That said, my priorities are choosing sustainable directions. I am less concerned with what works now as much as I am concerned with what will continue to work in the future. Beyond that, I am for the direct betterment of the residents of this city. Improvements to make our day-to-day lives here in town better will always be my desire.

5. What is your availability to attend all meetings, meet with constituents,spend the time to become informed about meetings,engage in outreach to the community,including meetings both during regular business hours and after business hours?

Within reasonable circumstances, I expect to be fully available to attend the 2/month city council sessions, in addition to time needed to prepare for the meetings. I already do and will continue to engage in community outreach. I have a full time job, but with notice could occasionally contribute during regular business hours.

6. What is the most pressing issue facing the City of Sumas and how would you plan to address it as a Council Member?

Above anything else, our most pressing issue in Sumas is our next flood. We don’t know if that will be next year, or in the years to come, but we all know another flood is coming. This is a difficult problem as any realistic and comprehensive solution is well beyond the scope of a small city to address. So much of it feels beyond our control. However, I do think there are steps we can take so that the minor floods stay minor. We have streets that fill with standing water even outside of flood season. We have sidewalks still caked with gross flood mud. We have general waste maintenance to keep our public areas, ditches, and rivers free of debris.

Sumas can’t control the flood, what we can control is how we communicate. While the Voyent Alert system now in place addresses some of the issues I faced as a new resident seeking crucial city information during a flood, I believe we can do better. I seek to implement a communication platform that supports us in times of leisure as well as times of distress.