Soap Lake mayor, mayor pro-tem step down

SOAP LAKE — Allen DuPuy stepped down as the Soap Lake Mayor at the city council meeting Aug. 7. DuPuy was elected as the mayor Nov. 29, 2023, after he beat incumbent Michelle Agliano. DuPuy served eight months of his four-year term.

“I don't think any of us had any idea that he was going to be doing that,” said Soap Lake City Council Member John Carlson. “Personally, I think that DuPuy put his heart and soul into the job from the minute he was elected. Working in the city meant a lot to him, so I was really sad and shocked when he made the announcement.”

During the Tuesday special meeting, Leslie Taylor, the mayor pro tempore for the last two and half years, also stepped down.

“I have been in the office for long hours since October,” Taylor said. “I need to take care of some other things; my personal business has taken second to the city business for that long.”

With the mayoral resignation, the mayor pro tempore steps in to fulfill the duties of mayor until the council selects a new mayor. The council had 90 days to find a replacement before Grant County would step in and appoint a new mayor. The new mayor will serve until the general election instead of for a full term.

Taylor’s resignation brought the council to a discussion and vote. Council Member Peter Sharp, position six, was nominated by two of the other council members. Then he was officially selected as the new mayor pro tempore with a 5-2 vote.

“I was elected so I want to work as a team with them (the council) and just make the city the best that they can,” Sharp said. “I want to make Soap Lake great again.”

After Sharp was confirmed, Taylor asked who would continue to run the meeting. Members of the audience said that Sharp should. Sharp ran the remainder of the meeting.

The council then started discussing the selection of an interim city administrator. When the 2022 mayor stepped down, the chief of police stepped in as the Interim city administrator. When the 2022 mayoral resignation occurred the Columbia Basin Herald reported that the interim appointee would oversee city projects, grant work and arranging training and won’t result in the admin overseeing any other departments in the city.

However, this discussion was tabled until next week's meeting to give councilors time to look over documents of what Soap Lake did in 2022. The council agreed they will be taking their time choosing people to serve as interim city administrator and mayor.

“I was here at council the last time we got a new mayor in quickly and it didn’t work out so well,” Council Member Kayleen Bryson. “So, I am in favor of spending a little bit of time to consider what we’re doing here. It hasn’t been a week, so I think wisdom would have us hold out a little bit of caution here. I don’t think a little bit of time would be that detrimental to our government functioning.”