After just three rounds of voting, the City Council on Monday selected Ruth Perez to fill Council Position No. 6.

Perez, 46, has lived in Renton since 2007. She will be sworn in at the next council meeting and will have to run for re-election in November. If she wins, she will serve through 2017.

Perez was selected to replace Terri Briere, who died Nov. 9. A total of 13 people interviewed for the position.

According to her resume, Perez presently serves, since 2009, as Chief Administrative Officer of Checkerboard Consulting Services, a Renton-based business consulting firm. Prior to that, Perez worked at the Mexican Consulate in Seattle as Director of the Program for Mexican Communities Abroad.

Originally born in Mexico City, Perez has a Bachelor’s degree in Communications and a Masters of Business Administration. She has worked as a magazine editor, a production coordinator for television and as a cultural liaison and local media coordinator for the Washington State Department of Trade and Economic Development.

“I am very excited about the appointment of Ruth Perez to the City Council,” Mayor Denis Law said in a press release. “Ruth has an extensive background in public service, and is a progressive leader in the Latino community in Renton. We welcome her professional expertise, extensive knowledge, and diverse background in community building, government relations, and civic engagement. Her contributions will be extremely valuable and a great addition to the City Council.”

Councilmembers said they were impressed by Perez’s resume, as well as her answers to the questions during the interview process Dec. 2, where Council President Don Persson, who entered Perez’s name into nomination, said she “showed fight and she also showed compassion.”

The Council also talked about wanting to select a woman to replace Terri Briere, as well as adding further diversity to the council with the addition of a latino, one of the city’s fastest growing ethnic groups.

“I am honored to be selected and I look forward to the opportunity to serve the Renton Community,” Perez said in a press release. “Renton is very diverse and cultural rich. Each neighborhood area has its own needs and requirements in order to be all that they can be. We need to work together to develop those areas into the kind of city we want to live in.

“I am ready to embrace the responsibilities of City Councilmember with determination, integrity and goodwill,” she said.

Perez’s selection came relatively quickly during Monday’s meeting, taking only three rounds of voting before she received a majority.

Councilmembers were each given the opportunity to put forth a name into nomination and then were given a chance to explain to the rest of the council why they made their choice.

Once nominations were closed, the council began to vote on individuals, with each member stating their choice out loud until one name received four votes.

In the first round of voting, Persson voted for Perez. Marcie Palmer followed, voting for Beth Asher, whose name she entered into consideration.  Randy Corman, who nominated KB Van Horn, voted for Perez before Greg Taylor cast his vote for Asher, whose name he also entered into consideration. Armondo Pavone voted for Carol Ann Witschi, whom he nominated, as did Ed Prince, who nominated Mike Snow.

With no one receiving four votes, the council moved on to a second round in which Persson again voted for Perez and Palmer again voted for Asher. Corman shifted his vote to KB Van Horn, Taylor again cast his for Asher, Pavone switched to Perez and Prince went again with Witschi.

For round three, Persson again voted for Perez. Palmer struggled briefly with her vote and then cast ballot for Perez, which appeared to start the dominoes falling as Corman shifted his vote back her way. Taylor again voted for Asher, but Pavone made it official with another vote for Perez before Prince shifted his vote her way for a 5-1 final approval.

After the meeting, Palmer said Perez had always been in her top three candidates.

“I knew I was going to be happy with her,” Palmer said.

Perez will be sworn in Jan. 5.