King City Council Seat Appointments

At the council meeting on May 15th, 2024, all four empty council seats were filled. The newly appointed councilors are:

Term ending December 31, 2026:

  • Smart Ocholi
  • Dennis Gelfand

Term ending December 31, 2024:

  • Randall Olsen
  • Gary Wallesen

The decision to reappoint Smart Ocholi after citizens recalled him was, as Mayor Thompson said, “obviously controversial because he was recalled.” Smart Ocholi was recalled from his term ending 12/31/2024 and reappointed by sitting council to fill the remainder of a vacant term ending 12/31/2026. The council stated multiple reasons to reappoint Smart Ocholi:

  1. to retain his institutional knowledge
  2. to represent marginalized members of the community
  3. to acknowledge his willingness to seek multiple viewpoints (Mayor Thompson cited his willingness to meet with the recall petitioners in the past)

Councilor Manelis directed the selection process by proposing a slate of 4 candidates. Mayor Thompson proposed one change to the slate, there was some discussion, and the revised slate was approved by all 3 councilors. The councilors did not discuss which applicant should be appointed to which term length. Councilor Manelis defined the applicant seat assignments as part of his slate proposal.

The change to the slate that Mayor Thompson proposed was to include either Steve Gearhart or Randall Olsen to provide more diverse viewpoints on the council. Ultimately, Vince Arditti was removed, and Randall Olsen was added to the slate. There was little to no discussion about the other applicants.

Unite King City remains committed to working toward bringing all of King City together.  We encourage all current and future King City residents to welcome our new King City Council and to continue to call for changing the Master Plan to protect our neighborhoods and nature. You can see the councilor’s bios on the King City website here.

We implore our new King City Council to show that you are committed to a united King City by taking action to resolve the concerns that have been expressed by hundreds of your citizens regarding the TSP and the Fischer Road extension.