Carnation resident Ryan Burrell was appointed as the newest member of the Carnation City Council.

Burrell will take the position 4 seat on council, which was left vacant by outgoing mayor and longtime community advocate Kim Lisk, who is moving to Arizona. Lisk resigned from her position effective Aug. 31.

Burrell was selected from a field of four candidates and is expected to start on the council after taking his official oath of office on Sept. 17.

Lisk, who has been on the council since 2014 and was appointed mayor in 2018, was reelected to her third-term on the city council in 2021. Burrell will serve out the remainder of Lisk’s term, which will expire at the end of 2025.

With Lisk’s resignation, Deputy Mayor Jim Ribail has assumed the role of interim mayor.

Burrell is a business and hardware implementation analyst with Costco and nearly 20-year resident of Carnation. In an interview, he said his interest in the council was driven by a desire to give back. He said he was also inspired by all the improvements happening in town.

“My biggest focus is to try and contribute my time and effort in the spirit of volunteerism and see what I can give back to the community,” he said. “I can’t wait to get started.”

Burrell said his primary focus on council will be on economic development and how the city can work to attract new business and diversify its tax revenue, which he said is heavily reliant on impact fees and growth.

“We’re not a very big town. We’re kind of an island, and we don’t have a whole lot of room to continue to grow,” he said. “We need to get those businesses to come in and diversify our tax revenue, otherwise we’ll find ourselves in a difficult situation.”

Burrell said with a noticeable increased demand in Carnation over the last few years, he is hopeful that the city can use that leverage to attract outside businesses.

“We’re hoping to attract some of those businesses that are getting driven out of the core of Redmond and elsewhere because of the cost,” he said. “[It]’s a great opportunity for Carnation to pick up some of those businesses and ideally create an area where you have people who can work and live in the same community.”

Outside of economic development, Burrell said his priorities include creating more mixed-use growth, making Carnation more walkable and creating more trails and recreational opportunities.