With the appointment of Randy Olsen on Aug. 21 and the appointment of Sandy Cunningham on Sept. 4, the King City City Council is back up to its full contingent of seven members. Both were the sole applicants to apply to the positions.
Olsen and Cunningham, who both previously applied for vacant council seats, have left their mark on the City Council over the past couple of years. Olsen was the chief petitioner for the successful 2023 recall campaign that removed the mayor and three city councilors from office following their vote in favor of the controversial King City Transportation System Plan. He served on the City Council for eight months last year after being appointed to a term that expired at the end of the year.
Cunningham filed a writ against the city in Washington County Circuit Court in early 2024 over the December 2023 appointment of John Hartman to a vacant council seat, alleging the city did not follow its own code in the process. The judge ruled in the city’s favor, and Cunningham later filed another writ over Hartman’s appointment, withdrawing it the day after Hartman resigned and walked out of the July 24 council meeting.
Olsen is replacing Denny Gelfand, who was appointed to the council after the successful 2023 recall campaign and resigned in July, and Cunningham is replacing Hartman.
On his application to the city, Olsen, who is retired, pledged that “I will listen to the community and learn what their priorities are and work to properly address their concerns.” He also added, “We on the City Council must be forward thinking, being cognizant of how today’s decisions will impact the city’s future.”
At the Aug. 21 council meeting, Councilor Jan Tysoe asked him, “What would you say our overarching mission is?” and Olsen replied, “It’s to build a good future for the community, to listen and represent the community, and to be a good representative of the community when in public.”
He added that he considers “safety and livability are two of the top priorities” in the city.
After the council voted 4 – 0 to appoint Olsen to the council, Mayor Rachel Kazmierski said, “Congratulations,” and the audience broke out in applause. She then administered the oath of office, and Olsen joined the other council members on the dais.
At the Sept. 4 meeting, the councilors interviewed Cunningham, who is retired and has lived in King City for three-plus years. She said she first got involved in the city over traffic concerns and told the council, “I’m honored to be considered. If chosen, I will do my best to represent the voters in an ethical and transparent way.”
Cunningham called herself “an incredible problem-solver,” and in response to a question from Kazmierski on the role of the council, she answered, “It is to support the city workers and to support the residents.”
Following the councilors’ 6 – 0 vote to appoint Cunninghan to the council,” the audience applauded, and Kazmierski swore her into office.
City union contract approved
The City Council voted 6 – 0 at the Sept. 4 meeting (before Cunningham was appointed) to ratify a collective bargaining agreement with city employees. The previous contract expired June 30, 2024, and Police Chief/acting City Manager Ernie Happala told the council that the new three-year contract would expire June 30, 2027 and that “overall, the union voted in favor of this.”
“They will get an overall 15 percent base pay increase that captures all three years,” said Happala, adding that the contract includes incentive pay to retain employees. “We’re trying to retain the talent and keep our good people here that want to be here,” he said.
Council members were assured that the city could afford the new contract. Olsen asked why employees worked so long without a contract, and Happala answered, “There was a lot of miscommunication and quite frankly, I’m just going to call it bad offers from us, and that’s what we stepped up to take care of… We wanted to do what was fair to keep everybody here. We want to take care of our employees as best we can.”
Kazmierski abstained from the discussion and voting because her husband is a city employee, so City Council President Jessica Braverman, who led this portion of the meeting, said, “We do support our people here.” She called it is an “embarrassment” that it took so long to get a new contract ratified.
Braverman added, “It’s really been a pleasure to help facilitate this. I hope everyone will join me in saying, ‘Congratulations,’” and the audience applauded.
Amending the TSP
During a Sept. 4 work session following the regular City Council meeting, an independent community work group, which met five times between September 2024 and March 2025, presented its recommendations for changes to the city’s Transportation System Plan. The approval of the controversial plan two-plus years ago that included an extension of Fischer Road into Kingston Terrace led to the recall of the majority of the City Council.
The recommendations include amending the Transportation System Plan and Comprehensive Plan to make 137th instead of Fischer Road an east-west collector road just west of the current city limits as a lower-cost alternative, to bypass the Bankston Conservation Easement, to encourage regional traffic to use Beef Bend Road, and to better protect the Tualatin River and wildlife habitat.
The proposal includes consulting with the city attorney on preventing developers from building roads in the current plan that would be changed. The group was told that the proposed changes would take a lot of time and many steps to accomplish.
Kazmierski ended the meeting by saying, “It’s a great starting point. It’s a good kick-off place for another work session.
