Covington had a nice problem to solve last week: One open seat on the City Council, and five people who wanted to fill it.

Elected offices sometimes have a hard time attracting enough wannabes to give their constituents a choice of who should occupy them. In yesterday’s primary election, for instance, three of the four races for Legislature in the Covington and Maple Valley areas had only two candidates – the bare minimum to give voters a choice when the final voting goes down in the general election in November.

But there was plenty to choose from when the Covington City Council convened a public forum Aug. 12 to formally pick its newest member from among five applicants. They wanted to replace Bud Sizemore, who resigned from the council in May.

David Lucavish, who also applied for a council opening last year and is one of those rare citizens who regularly attends council meetings, wound up getting the appointment. Besides his demonstrated interest in city affairs, he’s been business-oriented as a computer shop owner, Covington Chamber of Commerce leader and member of the city’s Economic Development Committee. No doubt that background figured in his selection, since business-related downtown land-use is one of the more prominent issues of late for the council.

Lucavish promised to “work toward encouraging the business community to locate in our community, not only to provide revenue, but also to provide needed local services for our citizens.”

Councilman Jeff Wagner said Lucavish, who he nominated, and the other applicants – Paul Bernal, William Simpson, Sean Smith and Charles Soper IV – are all “extremely qualified and have positive qualities that would make a great fit on the council.”

One reason for the depth of choices is the comparative eagerness to crack the council through appointment versus getting aboard via elections. Last year, three council incumbents had no opposition in their re-election campaigns, whereas four people, including Lucavish, applied for the opening created by the death of Don Henning.

So be it. Regardless of the path it takes, too much of that kind of involvement is better than not enough.

Editor and publisher Pat Jenkins can be reached at (425) 432-1209 (extension 1050) and pjenkins@reporternewspapers.com