Outgoing Twisp Mayor Soo Ing-Moody, left, administered the oath office to Hans Smith, a longtime Town Council member who will take over as mayor in January 2024.
Led town government for 13 eventful years
After 13 years of presiding over the Twisp Town Council, Mayor Soo Ing-Moody brought down the gavel for the final time at last week’s council meeting.
Hans Smith, who resigned his Town Council seat to run (unopposed) for the mayoral position in November, was sworn in. He will move one seat to the right for the council’s first meeting of 2024, and assume the gaveling duties. Joining the council in January will be newly elected members Tim Matsui, Elliot Thrasher and Will Menzies.
Ing-Moody welcomed friends, family, former town employees and constituents at a reception before last week’s meeting. At the council meeting, there were a few emotional moments as staff and council members thanked Ing-Moody for her service, and she in turn thanked them for their support and contributions to the town’s well-being.
Ing-Moody, Smith and outgoing council members Alan Caswell and Mark Easton were presented with colorful caricature drawings of themselves created by Jeff Palmer, pastor of the Community Covenant Church of the Methow Valley.
Appointed in 2010
Ing-Moody, at the time a relatively new council member, was appointed mayor in October 2010 after then-Mayor Bill Boosman resigned. Ing-Moody became Twisp’s fourth mayor in less than two years.
Ing-Moody put an effective end to the turnover trend. She was unopposed for re-election in 2011 and 2015, and defeated former mayor Vern Sessions in 2019, winning 76% of the vote.
Ing-Moody was born in Canada, has two master’s degrees, and is fluent in Chinese and German. She moved to the Methow Valley in 2000, and operated a bed-and-breakfast with her husband, Michael, early in her career as mayor.
The mayoral position eventually evolved into essentially a full-time job that saw her become involved in issues beyond the town. Ing-Moody built strategic relationships with legislators and other regional government leaders, but she never lost focus on Twisp’s needs and challenges.
Primary among have been consistently upgrading the Twisp’s water, sewer and streets infrastructure, improving the town’s readiness for wildfires, facilitating the town’s merger with Okanogan County Fire District 6, and replacement of the old town hall with a new civic building and regional communications center that opened in 2022.
The outgoing mayor was also involved with the Okanogan Council of Governments for many years.
Ing-Moody received favorable attention for her leadership during the massive wildfires of 2014 and 2015, including recognition from U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell as a Woman of Valor. Cantwell commended Ing-Moody for her “intelligence and dedication to providing for her constituents” and for her leadership. The mayor was featured in a cover story in the Seattle Times Sunday magazine a few years back.
Ing-Moody was also involved in the Methow Headwaters Campaign to fight possible development of a copper mine near Mazama, and helped push for withdrawal of 340,000 acres of national forest land from future mineral exploration and mining.
Smith and the new council will face some ongoing challenges in 2024, including resolving whether the town’s police department can be rebuilt or whether Twisp will need to seek an alternative for law enforcement coverage. Other issues including affordable housing, infrastructure needs, revision of the town’s sign code and updating its comprehensive plan.
