Avondale council taps Weise for seat
Is unanimously named 7th member

Lynh Bui
The Arizona Republic
Feb. 4, 2006 12:00 AM

The Avondale City Council has unanimously appointed Ken Weise as its seventh member, choosing him from a pool of 10 applicants that included two former council members.

Councilman Jason Earp nominated Weise, 40, for the job after the council spent nearly 2 1/2 hours interviewing candidates earlier this week.

Earp said he was impressed with Weise's knowledge of the city and said it was obvious that Weise "did his homework."  

Councilwoman Betty Lynch supported Earp's nomination. She said it was apparent that Weise knew the ins and outs of Avondale when he talked about the South Mountain Freeway instead of just speaking vaguely about transportation problems.

Weise is the first council member appointed to the body since the council opened its deliberations to the public.

The council traditionally has discussed candidates for the council and commissions behind closed doors but opened the meeting after The Republic questioned the practice.

Weise will be the third person added to the council this year. He joins Councilmen Jim Buster and Frank Scott, who won their seats in the November election.

Weise will take the seat left by Marie Lopez Rogers, who was appointed mayor last month after the council met in closed session for nearly 35 minutes.

Weise will be sworn in Monday at Avondale City Hall, and his term will expire in December 2007.

Weise has lived in Avondale for 10 years and works as a field application engineer for Newark InOne Services.