O’Halloran takes her seat

Councilmember sworn in before the new year

After having an empty seat since September, newly-elected Valerie O’Halloran has been sworn in to complete the year on council seat three.

O’Halloran was sworn in Dec. 2 at Renton City Hall, to complete the year and will be serving four years starting in 2020. She was sworn in just in time for the final meeting of the year on Monday, Dec. 9.

At the council meeting, Mayor Denis Law welcomed O’Halloran. She was thrilled to announce her first committee meeting as well at the end of the meeting, the community services committee on Jan. 6.

O’Halloran ran this year for former Councilmember Carol Ann Witschi’s seat after Witschi announced plans to resign last spring, moving with her family across the country. O’Halloran ran against chamber board president James Alberson for the position and won in November by a little over two percentage points, or 418 votes.

The new councilmember has lived in Renton for 23 years and served as an active volunteer in the city, including Renton Arts Commission, Renton River Days, Earth Day, cleanups and other initiatives. According to a city of Renton press release, she also helped shape the philanthropic vision for Renton while serving on the Renton Regional Community Foundation board of Directors.

She spent her childhood living in Germany, Turkey and Japan, before moving to the U.S. at age 10, and went on to have a 30-year career in accounting and financial analysis.

In Law’s weekly newsletter, he congratulated O’Halloran, stating the city will benefit from her wisdom and he was excited that she chose to run for council.

The other newly-elected councilmember, Kim-Khanh Van for position six, will be sworn in Jan. 6, at 7 p.m., after Council President Don Persson finishes his final term on council. A third new councilmember will also need to be appointed to replace Mayor-elect Armondo Pavone’s seat. That process will begin at the start of the new year, as previously reported by Renton Reporter.