Another Sammamish City Council member announced they will be stepping down from their council position at the end of their current term.

City Councilmember Tom Odell announced Saturday that he will not be seeking re-election after serving nearly eight years with the Sammamish Council.

In a press release, Odell, 72, stated “it has been my privilege and pleasure to serve for the last seven years as one of your seven Councilmembers.” He told the Reporter he believed the city is at a point where things are “well-set” and that now would be as good a time as any to step away.

“My time in public service has accounted for just about ten years of my life if you include my military service,” Odell said in the release. “Now, after two terms on the council, I have decided that I will decline the opportunity for a third. It is time for me to turn my attention more to our family, as well as to travel and perhaps fishing and to explore other opportunities for the coming years.”

Odell’s tenure included stints serving as the city’s mayor and deputy mayor. He said during his time in office, the city has seen “significant but challenging progress,” noting the city’s population increase to over 62,000 with the Klahanie annexation.

While on the council, Odell said he was proud of the role he served in working with the city toward building the Sammamish Community YMCA and Aquatic Center. Other notable accomplishments he mentioned were leading the city’s effort for the Klahanie annexation into Sammamish and working toward establishing an agreement with Central Washington University to set up its Sammamish campus.

“I have very much enjoyed working closely with others on the council and city staff to keep the city running smoothly and in fine fiscal shape,” Odell said. “Our city’s cash balance is roughly the same as it was eight years ago despite some very significant self-funding of capital improvement projects.”

Odell is the fourth City Council member opting not to seek re-election this fall. He joins Sammamish Mayor Don Gerend, Deputy Mayor Bob Keller and Councilmember Kathy Huckabay.

Candidates running for Sammamish City Council positions this fall so far include former 5th District state representative challenger Jason Ritchie, local immigration attorney Minal Ghassemieh, entrepreneur John Robinson and resident Rituja Indapure, who have all filed with the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission. Ritchie has filed to run for the council’s Position 1 chair, Ghassemieh filed for Position 3 and Indapure has filed for Position 5. Robinson has not yet specified the position for which he will run.

Sammamish financial analyst Chris Ross has also announced his intent to run for council and stated in an email to the Reporter that he plans to file for the council’s Position 5 chair.