Rasham Nassar was appointed as the new Bainbridge Island mayor by a 4-3 vote over Joe Deets in the City Council’s first meeting of the new year.

Nassar will serve a one-year term, replacing outgoing mayor Leslie Schneider, who stated she was “‘deeply honored to have served these last 12 months” and is “looking forward to spending more time with my priorities of affordable housing and sustainable transportation.”

Along with Nassar, councilmembers Christy Carr, Michael Pollock and newcomer Brenda Fantroy-Johnson also voted for her. Outgoing deputy mayor Deets voted for himself, along with Schneider and Kirsten Hytopoulos, who later became deputy mayor.

“I would be honored to serve, and I would do my absolute best to treat the role with (the) utmost respect,” Nassar said. “I see a lot of opportunities for change, primarily in the areas of council efficiency of time (and) parliamentary procedure in terms of how our meetings are organized and run.”

Hytopoulos was unanimously voted in to replace Deets. Deputy Mayor’s serve a six-month term that will end June 30. Deets said “I think she’s very strong on process and fearless in getting into the details. I think she would be an ideal deputy mayor.”

Fantroy-Johnson said: “I’m glad that Councilmember Hytopoulos was nominated. “I think it might be a way to move this council forward as far as being more collaborative.”