Auburn City Councilmember James Jeyaraj was appointed to be the city’s next deputy mayor following the retirement of Deputy Mayor Claude DaCorsi.

During the Dec. 6 council meeting, the council members voted for the next deputy mayor. Jeyaraj received four out of seven votes, winning the seat.

Jeyaraj moved to Washington from Singapore in 1985 and began working for Honeywell in Spokane before being recruited by a Seattle-based aerospace company where he worked as a production planner.

Jeyaraj has served on Auburn’s Parks and Recreation Board and through volunteer work and political activism, according to the City of Auburn.

The deputy mayor would take on the role of the mayor if the elected mayor was no longer able to do their job.

“The most important potential responsibility of the deputy mayor is to be able to at a moment’s notice, if the time ever comes, to step into the role as the mayor of the City of Auburn until there’s a new selection of a new mayor,” DaCorsi said.

DaCorsi’s last day on the council is Dec. 31, and on Jan. 1, 2022, Jeyaraj will take over the role as deputy mayor, according to the City of Auburn. DaCorsi began his second term on the council in 2018. Prior to that, he worked as the director of construction for the King County Regional Housing Authority.

After the vote was taken and Jeyaraj was selected, Mayor Nancy Backus thanked DaCorsi for his work and expressed her eagerness to work with Jeyaraj.

“I look forward to working with you, Deputy Mayor-elect Jeyaraj, in that role to ensure that we have a strong relationship between the mayor’s office and council and that we are serving the public in the best way that we can,” Backus said.