YAKIMA -- It took generations for Yakima to elect its first Latinos to the City Council.

And as City Hall filled with observers and cameras flashed to document the historic moment, it took just moments to swear them in.

“As much as I wanted this day, I never saw it coming,” Councilwoman Carmen Mendez said. “It’s great that we get to be here and that the city gets to have fair elections.”

Mendez took the oath along with new members Avina Gutierrez, Dulce Gutierrez and Holly Cousens. Incumbents Kathy Coffey, Maureen Adkison and Bill Lover also were sworn in for new terms.

More than 50 people packed the small council chambers and more spilled out into the City Hall lobby as the seven council members elected in November took the oath of office. It is also the city’s first majority-female council, with Lover the lone male.

“I might have to watch what I say. I’ll probably get called on it a few times,” Lover said.

Cousens said she’s excited to see how the new council works together.

“As women, I think we can empower each other, and of course we can’t leave Bill out,” she said.

The ceremony culminates a year of major shifts at City Hall after a federal judge in February ordered new council district elections as part of an American Civil Liberties Union voting rights lawsuit. The city is still appealing the order, and the 
$1.8 million in legal costs the judge said the city owes the ACLU. But the new council is expected to reconsider the appeal.

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As far as daily government goes, they may have no tougher challenge in their first term than finding a new city manager.

The city is soliciting executive search firms to find candidates, but it could be another three to six months before the council chooses someone to replace Tony O’Rourke, who left office Dec. 1 after resigning with a $69,000 severance package. In the meantime, city attorney Jeff Cutter is serving as interim city manager.

Avina Gutierrez said she’s focused on finding a city manager who “reflects the change we’ve seen in the city.”

“I’m anxious to recruit someone who has a history with diverse communities,” Gutierrez said. “We’ve elected Latinos, more women, and those reflect changes in our community that are real.”

Dulce Gutierrez said she always believed change would come, but didn’t expect it to happen so soon.

“My life has changed a little bit,” she said. “And a lot of people in my district are happy to have someone they know in their neighborhood first-hand.”

Other issues the council is expected to act on in the coming months include the future of the city’s proposed $14 million downtown events plaza.

The new council’s first business meeting is scheduled for Jan. 5.