In the off chance that anyone has noticed, as of July 22 I was absent for five Enumclaw City Council meetings in a row.

In my 10 years on council, I don’t think I’ve ever missed two meetings in a row…or even five meetings in an entire year. I never foresaw this happening and wanted to take a moment to publicly explain my absence from Council.

Two of my absences were due to out-of-town work commitments, one absence was for my daughter’s graduation from Enumclaw High School and the other two absences were due to a much-needed, two-week family vacation to Maui where we just happened to leave on a council meeting Monday and return at 11 p.m. the next council meeting Monday (poor planning on my part).

The good news is that I now know that the city runs as well or better with me gone, but I’m anxious to get back in the saddle in August. I take my responsibility as a councilman very seriously and these recent scheduling conflicts have been a little embarrassing.

Jim Hogan

Enumclaw City Council