The Clark County Council today voted unanimously to forward the names of three individuals to Governor Jay Inslee to fill an unexpired term on the county council. Governor Inslee will have 30 days to appoint one of the individuals to the open seat which is in District 5.

Eileen Quiring O’Brien earlier this year vacated the seat when she retired.

The current term for District 5 ends Dec. 31, 2022, and the seat will be open for election later this year.

The three nominees forwarded to the governor, in alphabetical order, are Richard (Dick) Rylander Jr, Thomas Schenk and Peter Silliman. 

Rylander, since January 2014 has served as President of BioPharmaceutical Strategies LLC, and since September 2016 he has volunteered as Executive in Residence at Oregon Health and Science University to assist researchers, physicians and faculty in assessing the commercialization potential for technologies including diagnostics, devices, drugs and digital products.

Prior to serving as a contract employee to oversee Federal Agency seizure processes, Mr. Schenk was a criminal investigator and senior special agent with the United States Customs Service and a Special Agent with the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division beginning his career in Los Angeles and retiring in Portland; his specialties were financial crimes and money laundering.

Silliman of La Center owns his own business to complete telecommunications work requests requiring the rearrangement of copper pairs or fiber, drawing from his experience such as technician, construction manager, splicing manager and senior engineer.  From 2014 to 2016, he served as research analyst in Clark County, representing the County Council or individual councilors in their oversight of county government.  He was elected to serve on the Home Rule Charter Board where he volunteered as a Freeholder for Clark County in 2014.

Clark County Council Chair Karen Dill Bowerman thanked all the candidates for their willingness to serve the community and their time participating in interviews that took place prior to the council vote.

“We are fortunate to have had such qualified applicants who are willing to serve the county in this capacity,” said Bowerman.

CONTACT:
Karen Dill Bowerman, Chair, Clark County Council, 564.397.2232