Palouse replaces council member

A new council member was sworn in to the Palouse city council at its council meeting Tuesday.

Tim Jones, an architect at WSU, accepted the position after the council met in executive session for five minutes to discuss his qualifications.

Jones was the only applicant for the council position. He told the Gazette he was encouraged by council member Connie Newman to apply.

Jones has a career-long background in architecture, largely in municipal and public buildings. Jones has been an architect for the past five years at WSU with the capital planning and development department.

The five-member council had only four council members for the past month after the resignation of council member Randy Zehm who was elected to the Palouse council in November of 2009.

Mayor Michael Echanove asked Jones about his work history and also asked him to give examples of what he would do as a council member in real-life scenarios.

For example, Echanove asked Jones what he would do if a citizen called with a snow removal complaint.

“I’d give him your home phone number,” Jones said with a laugh.