Qualls resigns council, accepts city job

SANDPOINT — Aaron Qualls may be stepping down from the Sandpoint City Council, but he’ll still be seeing his fair share of City Hall.

Due to conflict of interest, Qualls is giving up his seat on the council to accept a job as a city planner beginning Oct. 1. Qualls filed his resignation Wednesday, but according to City Attorney Scot Campbell, it won’t be completely official until the City Council accepts it at the Oct. 2 council meeting.

“Once the resignation is accepted by the council, the seat becomes open,” Campbell said.

With Qualls stepping down from council, Mayor Marsha Ogilvie will nominate an individual as a replacement. The City Council will then either approve or reject the nomination. The individual will serve the remainder of Qualls’ term — about two years.

There is no established time frame under state or city code determining when a replacement council member must be established, and Campbell said he couldn’t estimate when that might occur. Until a replacement is nominated and approved, the City Council will simply operate as a five-person body.   

Qualls is taking over the city planner position formerly occupied by Joan Bramblee. As an employee of the Sandpoint Planning and Zoning Department, he will work closely with department head Jeremy Grimm on tasks like reviewing site plans and permits and working with the Planning and Zoning Commission.

After recently earning a Master of Urban and Regional Planning degree from Eastern Washington University, Qualls began investigating opportunities to utilize his education. According to Campbell, he was excited to apply for the Sandpoint position since he wasn’t eager to relocate for a new career.

Campbell said the city received many qualified applications to fill the position. However, Qualls stood out for several reasons, including his level of education and his involvement in many key Sandpoint planning projects.

“His application rose to the top on its own merits,” Campbell said.

According to his biography published on the city website, Qualls became motivated to pursue city planning as a career after experiencing firsthand the effects of uncontrolled growth combined with poor management in California. He obtained an undergraduate degree in anthropology from the University of California in Santa Cruz before beginning a career in web and multimedia design.

Qualls moved to Sandpoint in 2006. Shortly thereafter, he became involved in several local projects, including the development of the Sandpoint Comprehensive Plan and the Festival at Sandpoint “Going Green” program. He also served on the Sandpoint Transition Initiative Building and Community Design group and the Planning and Zoning Commission before being elected to City Council in 2011.