| 2/5/2010 | Email this article • Print this article | Temporary council member appointed in Maplewood
Familiar face fills vacant post
Derrick Knutson
Review staff
The Maplewood City Council decided to go with a resident who has past council experience when it came to filling the vacancy that was created after Will Rossbach was sworn in as mayor at the beginning of January.
Julie Wasiluk, 48, a former Maplewood City Council member who served from 2000 to 2004, was the pick of the council to serve until late summer when a special election will be held to fill the seat. About two years are left on Rossbach's former council term.
Maplewood City Clerk/Citizen Services Manager Karen Guilfoile said at the Jan. 25 council meeting that the council members decided at the Jan. 12 meeting to submit names of residents they thought were qualified to fill the vacancy.
During a council and city manager workshop later in the month, three candidates were interviewed and the council decided Wasiluk would be the best choice to fill the empty seat until a special election can be held.
The special election will take place at the same time as the state primary, but that date won't be decided until the Legislature votes on a bill this upcoming session that could move the primary date from September to August.
The whole process of swearing in Wasiluk took less than 15 minutes at the last council meeting, without much discussion about the process from the council.
"We need to get her sworn in so she can get to work," Council member Kathy Juenemann said at the meeting.
In a phone interview, council member John Nephew said he and Rossbach recommended her to fill the vacancy.
"Sometime after the election, it was clear we had to appoint somebody," Nephew said. "A resident said to me, 'Hey, have you thought of Julie Wasiluk?' I said, "Why, no, but she would be a great choice.'"
Wasiluk, whose husband, Scott, is a former state legislator, currently works for Minnesota Child Care Resource and Referral Network as its military child-care services coordinator, according to her résumé. Wasiluk has also been a program coordinator for the same organization, the owner of a home child-care business, a receptionist and account executive with Cartwheel Company and a Realtor with Burnett Reality. She and her husband have two children.
Wasiluk has also held various volunteer positions.
She was the chairperson of the Northeast Suburban Transit Commission, she was the treasurer for the North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale School District 622 Communities Partnership and she's a former board member for the Suburban Ramsey Family Collaborative.
Wasiluk attended Century College in White Bear Lake and completed courses in writing, speech, business, humanities and computers.
Derrick Knutson can be reached at dknutson@lillienews.com or at (651) 748-7825.
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