Dunsmoor selected as Raymond mayor

The two candidates, council member Ray Robinson and Raymond resident Jason Dunsmoor, were in attendance to have their interviews with the Raymond City Council.

The meeting started on the quarter hour, to ensure that all council members were able to attend, was absent of department heads, not required to be involved in the voting of the mayoral selection.

Mayor Pro Tem Vicki Flemetis got the meeting directly underway and turned the official "Drawing of Straws" to City Clerk Hester Gilleland as Robinson and Dunsmoor drew lots to see who would stand in front of the council first.

Dunsmoor, pulling the "short straw", interviewed first with the council. Both candidates were ushered to a separate room, prior to the start, as the council quickly discussed the interview program. It was suggested and selected to have the crux of the questions posed as a two-part question, with any additional questions from council members based on the response to the question, or if they felt an additional question would clarify a detail.

The question posed for the candidates was, "Why do you want to be mayor?"...and "What do you think you could do better for the city as mayor?"

Both candidates had a feeling of giving back to the community as one of the reasons that they decided to put their hats in the ring. That, and the early retirement of Mayor Bob Jungar, gave them the opportunity to act on their desires.

They also shared on the idea that Raymond today is not the Raymond of tomorrow. Having increased business in the future most decidedly related to the marijuana industry, the candidates also understood that it is still relatively early in the industry and that the city will have to work as the industry grows.

There were a couple of follow-ups on questions having to deal with time dedication to the position as both had full-time jobs. For Dunsmoor, who was previously a city council member, had to take a respite from his civic duties, due to family matters. That had left a hole that was filled in by council member Kaley Hanson.

When directly asked about his previous position with the city and his reason for leaving, Dunsmoor responded that he has learned a lot in the last year and is refocusing. And does not see the mayoral schedule to be in conflict with how he manages his career and private life now.

Robinson made it known that he was on track to run for mayor during the next election, as this year he is looking to retire from his position, and will have an open schedule available for the position by this summer. He also said that he did not see a conflict with the schedule as he also can take a few vacation days if he needed to attend to pressing matters.

After both candidates responded to the series of questions, the council held a vote tallying an unanimous decision that Jason Dunsmoor would be selected to sit out the remaining term as mayor.

The selection of Dunsmoor over Robinson also eliminates the need to replace Robinson on the city council, which would take another Special Meeting and solicitation from the public.

Mayor Dunsmoor will sit at his first Raymond City Council meeting on Dec. 15, and will hold the office of mayor until the next city election.