After a little more than a month since Riley Carter’s arrest on first-degree rape charges, which ultimately led to him resigning from his Ward 5 council member position, Aberdeen City Council has found someone to replace Carter.

And that person is a familiar face in Aberdeen.

Joshua Francy, who served Ward 5 until he lost his re-election bid in November 2023 and left the council at the end of his term in December 2023, will take back his spot. Francy spoke about re-joining the council, as well as why he wants to re-join the government body.

“I can say getting voted back onto the council is bittersweet,” Francy said. “My family originally came to this town to escape an abusive situation. My mother was able to utilize local programs to get a better life for us. I have always felt a debt to the people of this area since and it’s one of the reasons I volunteer my time to clean up and improve the area. And it’s why I ran. I wouldn’t wish any sort of abuse on anyone. I hope that justice will help those involved from repeating any negative patterns.”

Francy said he wouldn’t have thrown his name back into the ring “without citizens from the area asking me to fill this role again.”

“Thank you all,” Francy said. “I will do my best to help the people here learn that we can work together. We can build on what’s already here and make (this) an amazing place to live. I guess that’s my number one goal: to help the community learn resiliency. We can come back from bad situations and be a thriving metropolitan area.”

Francy was one of five potential replacements for the city council seat. Councilor Debi Pieraccini also serves Ward 5.

Another former Aberdeen city councilor, Alan Richrod, was amongst the small field of candidates. Michele Nipper, Mya Hernandez and Elizabeth Schave were the other candidates. They each had a chance to speak about why they wanted the seat. They also took part in a question-and-answer session with the city council.

Francy also spoke about three specific issues he wants to address, including:

Increase sanitation in downtown Aberdeen by putting in a Portland Loo

Increase Aberdeen’s tourism and the economy by putting in a boat launch in Southside

Increase cleanliness through improving volunteer opportunities that help people discover their personal ability to change the world for the better

But Francy is also aware of the economic challenges facing the city.

“It has become apparent since that finding a way to reduce the budget and still improving our city is going to be a tightrope that we’ll all have to walk,” Francy said. “But we can make a clean Aberdeen together.”

Sydney Swor, Aberdeen City Council president, made the motion to head into executive session. The councilors spoke on the issue for about 20 minutes before they returned and voted on the issue.

An especially noteworthy wrinkle of all of this is it took two separate votes for Francy to earn his seat. The first count was 5-5-1, with Francy and Nipper taking five votes each and Richrod taking the last one. Then the council voted again. Francy won 6-5 against Nipper.

Swor commented on Francy rejoining the council.

“I’m actually very excited that Josh was selected this evening out of the group of candidates,” Swor said. “He has a lot of experience. He’s very non-confrontational when disagreements arise. He’s easy to work with no matter what. And I think he’s gonna bring more collaboration, which is what we need.”

It’s uncertain whether he’ll be sworn in by Joe MacLean, auditor for Grays Harbor County, or if he’ll wait until the next council meeting on Sept. 25. But, Francy made one thing clear.

“I just want my daughter there,” Francy said of when he’s sworn in.

Contact Reporter Matthew N. Wells at matthew.wells@thedailyworld.com.