Mario Palmero, a 36-year-old welfare caseworker at the Oregon Department of Human Services's Gresham office, is Gresham's newest city councilor.
After interviewing Palmero and two other candidates during the Tuesday, Dec. 18, council meeting, councilors in a 4-1 vote appointed him to fill Position 4 for the last two years of the seat's four-year term. Council President Karylinn Echols was absent.
The seat was vacant due to Councilor John Kilian's abrupt resignation Saturday, Dec. 8.
Palmero ran in November for a different seat on the council but lost to Jerry Hinton, general manager of Brashers Auto Auction, who will be sworn in to Position 1 in January. A third new councilor Mike McCormick also will join the council next month.
On his application for the open council seat, Palmero said he wants to play a role in improving community safety and economic progress, and build bridges between the city council and the widely diverse city to make sure everyone is heard and represented.
Palmero lives in Gresham's Rockwood area, which is considered a higher-crime and more poverty-stricken part of Gresham. He is Hispanic and Puerto Rican, speaks Spanish and is learning to speak Russian.
Councilors Josh Fuhrer, Paul Warr-King, David Widmark and Lori Stegmann praised his deep understanding of issues facing many Gresham residents through his work as a welfare case worker, his volunteer efforts and his Rockwood connections.
The council has long been criticized for its lack of broader geographical representation in that most councilors live in the southern part of the city, leaving the west Gresham-Rockwood area without a voice.
Palmero has volunteered as a tax preparer for the AARP/Vita Tax Aid, with Habitat for Humanity and Rockwood Weed and Seed, and as a SMART reader.
A 10-year Gresham resident, Palmero is engaged and has a 13-year-old stepdaughter, Natalie, and a 1-year-old son, Mario Jr.
Mayor Shane Bemis voted to appoint local dentist Scott Hansen, who unsuccessfully ran against Laurie Monnes-Anderson, D-Gresham, for her state Senate seat in November.
The council also interviewed local real estate broker Richard Nelson for the vacant seat. Three others applied as well but did not show up for the council interview.
There are two years left in the position's four-year term, which lasts through 2014.