The Enumclaw City Council has a new member.

Five locals — Ed Storton, Jan Martinell, Ian Kirk, Trevor Gilthvedt, and Dixie Boush — applied to fill the Position No. 2 seat recently vacated by Kerry Flothe, who recently bought a home outside the city limits.

Flothe was elected to the council during the 2023 general election, and announced on July 8 that it was her last council meeting.

After about two hours of interviews with the candidates, where each gave a short introduction and then were asked questions by council members, the council — after an executive session — picked Martinell.

Martinell is relatively new to Enumclaw, having moved here right before the pandemic.

“It was the Fourth of July parade that brought us to Enumclaw,” she said in her interview. “We found a home in Enumclaw and we absolutely love it here.”

Martinell didn’t waste any time in becoming established, though; she and her husband Chad opened The Game Vault on the corner of Cole Street and Griffin Avenue in late November 2021, and it’s become a busy hub for D&D campaigns, after school Pokemon card battling, and Friday Night Magic: The Gathering duels all week long.

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg, it appears: Martinell’s full-time job is a communications manager at Dr. Pepper, but was previously a national marketing solutions manager for Pepsi for seven years. Additionally, she plans for her shaved ice stand (currently set up outside the Game Vault) to move into its own space nearby in early September.

“My husband collects hobbies; I collect businesses,” she told the council. “Every time he comes up with a new hobby, I figure out how we can monetize it.”

It appears her business expertise and acumen were one of the major reasons she was picked for the position.

“We face a situation in our upcoming budget discussions, in which we will need to get that person up to speed really quickly, so we’re trying to put the best person that we think can handle the position right away and jump in,” Mayor pro tem Anthony Wright said at the meeting, before making a motion to appoint Martinell.

“I am honored to have been appointed to the Enumclaw City Council. Enumclaw holds a special place in my heart, and I am passionate about preserving the historical charm, unique character and strong sense of community that defines it,” she said in an email interview. “I look forward to serving our community and ensuring that Enumclaw remains the wonderful town we all treasure.”

She will be sworn in at the next meeting on Aug. 26.

She’ll serve eight months until she has to file with King County to run for her position again; she told council she plans to do so.

Martinell’s interview with the Enumclaw City Council lasted about a half hour; here are some selected questions and answers, edited and paraphrased for length.

Councilmember Anthony Wright: What does government supporting small business mean to you?

“I think that a business needs the help of a city to be a part of a community and growth in the decisions that they make… I’m a huge fan of process… in lieu of a process, people create their own, so I appreciate when there’s process, so people are doing everything the same way.”

CM Wright: Street closures were controversial. Some businesses said they needed it, others said they lost business. Additionally, it was something the city sponsored since the pandemic. How would you have handled this situation? (Note: The Game Vault is on Cole Street and was part of the street closures.)

Martinell noted that every side needs to be considered, and that’s difficult because they all had valid points.

But “there needs to be a process, and the process needs to be followed… I think a great interim solution was come up with,” she said, specifying that not all weekends were appropriate for closure (bad weather, for example).

CM Wright: What are your thoughts personal property rights of someone who wants to sell their land to a developer, and that developer wants to be annexed into the city? And how do you balance that out with the negative perception of growth in the community?

“Growth is inevitable, but I think… making sure there is structure in place that if we’re saying ‘yes’ to something, there’s a plan for traffic… I think there’s more to look at than just a single answer.”

CM Wright: In my first two years of council, I got rejected a lot; I didn’t have a lot of wins. How do you handle multiple rejections, especially if your passionate about a subject?

Martinell said that she’s like to re-examine her arguments to see if a better one could be made, but also ask, “How are they so passionate about something while I am just as passionate on the other side? … It’s a lot of asking questions.”

She added that she comes from a place where she believes “everyone has everyone’s best interest at heart.”

CM Chris Gruner: Any area of focus you want to focus on, or make better in the city?

“I think that a plan for tourism and getting people to this town is really important to me,” she said, adding that the city needs to also focus on helping businesses that are not on Cole Street.

CM Tom Sauvageau: What could the city have done differently in regard to the proposed community center?

“I think it was really difficult that it was brought without a consensus from the council; I think that was really difficult for people to grab a side when we knew that council didn’t even agree on if we should have this project done or not… I would have held it from the public until we agreed on a common ground for it,” Martinell said, adding that the proposed building design did not seem to match the historic downtown feel and the city needed a better marketing strategy.

CM Sauvageau: The city is coming into 2025 with a deficit. How would you approach this in terms of employees and funding outside agencies?

“I am a strong proponent of data. I think data tells a story without bias, so I think looking at the data behind… what do these positions do, what are they bringing to the city, and take the people out of it. I know that’s so hard because these jobs are all about people, but when we look at the data behind the role and what it… brings to the city… if we got rid of that person, would it… not really make a difference? I think those are some really strong questions that I would personally look at.”

CM Chance la Fleur: If I put a magic “easy” button on the counter to fix one problem, what would you solve?

“I would put all of the Edward Jones in one building. I just don’t know why there are so many of them.”