Longtime attorney Andrea Vingo has been selected as Hoquiam Municipal Court judge by Mayor Jasmine Dickhoff. The appointment was confirmed at Monday’s City Council meeting.

“I chose Andrea because she has a service heart,” said Dickhoff, noting her longtime commitment to the community, including her work with the 7th Street Theatre Kids.

Vingo has been an attorney for 22 years. She told the council Monday she has worked as a prosecuting attorney locally, handling cases including violent felonies and sex offenses. She served for a time as Island County prosecutor, and has worked with the Attorney General’s Office civil rights unit, which deals with discrimination cases in areas like employment, housing, education and credit. She has served as a pro tem judge — someone who fills in for sitting judges when they are not available — over the years, and currently is employed with the state Department of Health as a staff attorney.

“Fortunately my job at (the Department of Health) gives me the flexibility to keep that job and serve as judge,” she told the council. Hoquiam’s 2018 budget states Vingo will earn $4,000 a month in the position.

Vingo graduated Seattle University Law School in 1996.

She recently was interviewed for the Grays Harbor County Superior Court judge position to be vacated by the retiring Mark McCauley at the end of the year, a position that wound up going to local attorney Ray Kahler.