Price Johnson, Homola to take oath of office Friday

The two winners in the races for Island County commissioner will be sworn into office tomorrow.

Commissioner Helen Price Johnson and Commissioner-elect Angie Homola will be sworn into office by Judge Alan Hancock at 2 p.m. Friday, Jan. 2 in the commissioners' hearing room in the County Annex Building in Coupeville.

It’s the second swearing-in ceremony for the county seat for Price Johnson, a Democrat. She beat incumbent Republican Phil Bakke for the District 1 position in November. And because Bakke was appointed to his post when then Commissioner Mike Shelton resigned, Price Johnson took the oath of office as soon as the election was certified as official, so she could complete Shelton’s term.

Homola, who won in her first attempt at elected office by beating 16-year-incumbent District 2 Republican Mac McDowell by just 60 votes in the general election, is a Democrat as well. She will become the second woman in Island County history – following Price Johnson – to become a county commissioner.

Tomorrow’s swearing-in ceremony marks another milestone. When Price Johnson and Homola take the oath, it will become the first time in county history that the three-member board of commissioners will be comprised entirely of Democrats.

Price Johnson and Homola will join Commission John Dean, a Camano Island Democrat who represents District 3, on the board.

The ceremony will take place in Room 102B; the annex is at 1 NE Sixth St., Coupeville.

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