After a two-year break, Bill Boyce once again is council president of the Kent City Council.

The council voted unanimously Dec. 14 to elect Boyce as council president for the next two years. Boyce replaces Toni Troutner, who served as president the past two years. Boyce was president the previous four years.

“Bill has been a passionate leader in the Kent community for many years, and I’m confident in his ability to lead our council to make the important decisions that will help build our community up and continue the progress we have made,” said Mayor Dana Ralph in her weekly email update.

The mayor works closely with the council president to see what kind of support the council will give to issues and proposals. The council president also serves as the official spokesperson for the council.

“I also wanted to thank outgoing Council President Toni Troutner for her service,” Ralph said. “It has been a pleasure working with her in her capacity as council president and I know she’ll keep serving as a leader that Kent residents can be proud of on our council.”

Boyce has served 10 years on the council and has two years remaining in his latest four-year term. He announced earlier this month his plans to run as a Republican and to challenge Sen. Mona Das, D-Kent, next year for the 47th District Senate seat.

Troutner will officiallly pass the gavel to Boyce at the Jan. 4 meeting. Troutner elected Boyce to be president and the rest of the seven-member council agreed. Voters in November reelected Troutner to another four-year term on the council.

Council members had no discussion or comments prior to their vote to elect Boyce, unlike two years ago when they elected Troutner.

In 2019, Boyce passed the gavel to Troutner, elected in a controversial 4-2 vote. Satwinder Kaur opposed Troutner as president because of her job working for a medical billing service owned by Ralph. Brenda Fincher wanted Boyce to keep the position, which he had held for four years.

At the time, it was the first vote that wasn’t unanimous among the council since Ralph became mayor in 2018. Voters reelected Ralph to four more years in November.

Article Source: Kent Reporter