Clark tapped for City Council

Defying some expectations, the Seattle City Council on Friday picked Sally Clark, an AIDS nonprofit official and former council aide, to fill the council's vacant seat.

Clark emerged from a field of nearly 100 people who applied for the job opening created by Jim Compton's resignation this month. At 39, Clark will be the youngest council member, but she has years of experience in local government and politics.

Clark was a well-regarded aide to former City Councilwoman Tina Podlodowski in the 1990s and worked for the city's neighborhoods department for five years. She worked briefly for King County Councilman Bob Ferguson before taking a job in 2004 coordinating volunteers and lobbying efforts at the Lifelong AIDS Alliance, where Podlodowski is executive director.

"I think I'm as ready as anybody could be to jump in," said Clark, who will be sworn in Feb. 6.

Still, earlier in the week, it was not at all clear that Clark would be the council's choice. The other five finalists were women of color and some council members had said publicly they were leaning toward picking a minority woman.

"In a way, she [Clark] was kind of a sleeper candidate," said Councilwoman Jan Drago.

The five other finalists also had formed a bond, meeting over dinners in what they described as a "sisterhood," pledging to unite behind whichever one of them was picked.

Clark, who is white, was not invited to those dinners, but she got the job. Clark won on a 6-2 vote Friday morning after several rounds of voting failed to produce a majority for other finalists. Councilmen David Della and Richard McIver voted against Clark, but later endorsed her in a unanimous vote once it became clear she would win.

Councilman Peter Steinbrueck said he thought news of the finalist dinners excluding Clark "hit a nerve" with some people, but neither he nor any other council member would say it influenced their vote. Councilwoman Jean Godden said, "I hope they'll invite me to dinner some time."

Council members said Clark rose to the top on the strength of her résumé and her impressive performance in private interviews. She also came highly recommended by people who had worked with her over the years, developing a reputation as someone who could work with people on both sides of a controversy.

Two other finalists came close to getting the necessary five votes. Stella Chao, who directs a nonprofit housing group, and Sharon Maeda, who advises nonprofit groups, each received four votes. Former Councilwoman Dolores Sibonga got three votes. The other two finalists, Ven Knox and Venus Velázquez, received no votes.

There did not appear to be any hard feelings among the finalists. Clark did not attend Friday's vote, but she monitored it on her office computer. When it became clear she would win, she received a congratulatory call from Maeda, Sibonga and Chao, who passed around a cellphone in the council chambers.

The victory was doubly sweet for Clark coming shortly before the state Senate approved gay-rights legislation. Clark, a lesbian who has been active in gay-rights campaigns and who once edited Seattle Gay News, said she received text-message updates on the Legislature from Podlodowski, who was in Olympia to testify on other legislation.

The council's vote Friday came only after council members spent nearly a half-hour debating the process by which votes would be taken. "Are you sure you all want to join this group?" joked Councilman McIver.

By winning the appointment, Clark is guaranteed the job — which pays nearly $97,000 — for the rest of the year. But the position will be up for election this fall. She'll have to win that election to serve the year remaining on Compton's term.

In 2007, Clark would have to run again to win a full, four-year term.

Council members predicted Clark, who has worked on several political campaigns, is likely to be a formidable candidate.

Maeda agreed. Though she wants to run for a council position in coming years, she said, "I don't think I'd run against Sally. I'm not stupid."

Jim Brunner: 206-515-5628 or jbrunner@seattletimes.com