Roy mayor departs, council to name replacement

The Roy City Council will consider appointing a new mayor at its regular meeting Monday after Mayor Karen Yates stepped down Friday.

Yates is moving to Tennessee for family reasons. She announced her resignation April 27.

She served six years in the city’s top position and another four as a council member. An appointee will be chosen to finish out her term, which expires in 2017.

“It will be different not having to answer the phone in the middle of the night,” she told The News Tribune Friday. “I’ll just have the freedom that I haven’t had in six years.”

Roy voters elect a strong mayor every four years to run day-to-day operations in the south Pierce city of 800.

In a letter announcing her retirement, Yates wrote that it was a “privilege and honor” to serve the city.

“Through thick and thin, we have worked together for the good of this community,” she wrote, adding that working with city staff has been a blessing.

Yates said Friday she’s proud of the stability Roy achieved during her time as mayor, including paying down almost all of the city’s debt. In 2009, a budget shortfall threatened the survival of the city library.

“We were able to get some continuity in staff and build a team that works very well together,” she added.

If the Roy City Council fails to choose a new mayor, that duty will fall to the Pierce County Council, Yates said.

This story was originally published July 11, 2015 at 4:04 PM with the headline "Roy mayor departs, council to name replacement."