The King County Council unanimously voted Carol Gregory to replace late Rep. Roger Freeman during a meeting this afternoon.

“Not only does Gregory have the knowledge and experience around education, but the balance of working as a teacher and then taking on management positions, speaks to strong her qualifications to address education issues fairly and all sides,” said Joe McDermott, council member.

Gregory is currently serving as the president of the Federal Way Public Schools board of education. She told council members she would immediately resign as president if she was selected, but stay on the school board until they chose a new superintendent.

“This is a critical time for the school district and I wouldn’t want to abandon them until we secured a qualified candidate to serve as superintendent,” Gregory said.

Freeman was elected during the general election just six days after passing away from colon cancer Oct. 29. The 30th Legislative District precinct officers voted Carol Gregory, Richard Champion and Shari Song as their top three candidates to replace late Rep. Roger Freeman last month.

“We deeply regret Roger Freeman’s passing and want to express our appreciation to all he’s done for Washington state,” said Larry Phillips, King County chair.

Because the 30th District straddles King and Pierce counties, the King and Pierce County Councils had to chose a Democrat from nominees picked by Democratic Party activists to serve for one year. Voters would then elect someone next year to serve the second half of the two-year term.

King County Council decided to separately appoint a candidate, saying there was an urgency to the matter and they wished to appoint someone before their holiday break.

Pierce County Council members expressed their displeasure at King County Council’s decision to appoint Freeman’s replacement without them in a press release. The council members said they wanted to follow specifications regarding joint action matters in the Washington State Constitution and a number of historical precedents in which councils meet jointly to make these important appointments.

“In cases like this it’s more important to be right than to be fast,” said Pierce County Council Chair Dan Roach in the press release. “We’ve done this a number of times in recent years and in all of them, the counties involved convened a joint meeting to weigh the pros and cons of each candidate before agreeing on a final decision.”

The law states the two councils must agree on a candidate to appoint as a replacement in 60 days from the time of a vacancy. Gov. Jay Inslee makes a final decision if the two cannot make a decision by that time.

“I see no reason to deviate from the established method and hopefully King County will agree, but to be fair to voters in both counties we’re going to request an opinion from the state attorney general to ensure the process is both transparent and accountable,” said Roach in the press release. “Until we’re certain that we’re following the rules established by the state Constitution, the Pierce County Council will postpone any action on this matter.”