Carrie Hubbard of Aberdeen took the oath of office and was sworn in as Ward 4 Position 7 city councilor replacing Stan Sidor who resigned unexpectedly on Valentine’s Day.

Hubbard won a five-person race after two rounds of voting and a tie-breaker cast by Mayor Douglas Orr at the March 26 regular city council meeting. Grays Harbor County Auditor Joesph R. MacLean administered the oath.

During her “campaign speech” at the March 26 meeting, Hubbard, who has been on staff with Harbor Architects since 1999, spoke about revitalization and why she wanted to join the Aberdeen City Council.

“I have lived in Grays Harbor most of my life. I’ve never held an office before, I’m not a fan of the spotlight. I’ve always been the behind-the-scenes worker bee kind of person, but it’s become pretty clear to me that if I want to be more effective for my community city council is a really good place to do that,” Hubbard said. “I also just recently joined the Downtown Aberdeen Association Design and Economic Vitality Committee. I’ve been really excited about the conversations we’ve been having about revitalizing our downtown core. It’s very exciting.”

Candidates were asked to discuss areas of focus. Hubbard indicated homelessness and downtown revitalization as two priorities.

“Homelessness is an issue. We’ve made great strides but we have more we can do,” Hubbard said. “The downtown revitalization is huge for me. I’ve seen other communities that have done this and it’s really fabulous when it’s done right and I know the city of Aberdeen has some infrastructure issues, roads, facilities, things we could probably be tackling.”

After the swearing in ceremony, Hubbard took her seat and participated in her first meeting as a newly minted, full-fledged member of the council. The Hoquiam High School graduate who recently earned a bachelor’s degree in organizational management from Grays Harbor College said learning of Sidor’s resignation piqued her interest.

“I got involved in the Downtown Aberdeen Association Design and Economic Vitality Committee and I wanted to dive in and do more, and I’ve been kind of toying with the idea for a while,” Hubbard said. “When I was at the (city council) meeting last month I found out this position was open and I said let’s see what I can do, dive in, get my feet wet and see what I can accomplish.”

Hubbard said she does plan to declare her candidacy in May and seek election to the office. Her appointment ends in December. She reiterated her desire to see positive change in downtown Aberdeen.

“I did not know the answer to that walking into this meeting tonight, but I’ll let you be the first to know that yes I do (intend to run),” Hubbard said. “Just based on what I’ve been seeing at the meetings I’ve been going to, I think there’s a lot of really good ideas. There’s some discussion about things as small as putting in bike racks and things as large as (whether) we vacate parts of Broadway and turn them into pedestrian zones. I have friends in Coeur d’Alene (Idaho) and I’ve been over there quite a bit and they have completely revitalized the whole downtown. It’s beautiful. I kinda want to touch base with people … and (see) if there are any lessons we can take from that.”

Hubbard has until May 9 to declare her candidacy. According to the Washington Secretary of State’s office, “The five-day filing period begins the first Monday in May. All candidates must file no later than the Friday of that week.” The 2025 primary period is set for July 18 through primary day on Aug. 5, with the General Election voting period starting on Oct. 17 culminating with election day on Nov. 4.