In what some may have seen as a bit of a surprise, the Sedona City Council voted 3-2 in favor of Tom Lamkin to fill a vacancy left by Angela LeFevre, who stepped down for personal reasons in January.

After interviewing Lamkin, who ran for council in 2014, former councilman Mike Ward and Sedona Planning and Zoning Commission member Gerhard Mayer, council deliberated for another 30 minutes before taking the vote.

Mayor Sandy Moriarty, Councilwoman Jessica Williamson and Councilman Jon Thompson voted in favor of Lamkin. He will fulfill LeFevre’s term until the general election this November. He said during his interview with council that he does intend to run again for council.

Vice Mayor Mark DiNunzio was called away for a family emergency and was not in attendance.

Lamkin spent 37 years working in sales for companies such as IBM, Siemens Corporation and Hewlett-Packard. Now retired, he serves as president of the local Kiwanis Club and is a volunteer Sedona Park Ranger.

Council had 18 questions before them, which were narrowed down to 10. Each of the three candidates appeared one-by-one and were asked the same 10 questions.

Lamkin was asked what his priorities are when making a decision on behalf of the city.

“I don’t want to make a decision quickly,” he said. “It was Mayor Moriarty who said that council works at a narcoleptic snail’s pace. There’s a purpose for that narcoleptic movement. It’s because you have to consider the things that are presented. It takes a while to gather all the facts. I’d have to look at how it’s going to impact the people and is it something the city should even be addressing.”

And when asked why they should choose him, Lamkin said, “One of the things I can bring to the council are my strong analytical skills that I used in my career. I look at the facts and try and base my decision on those facts rather that the thoughts and perceptions people have because those are usually flawed.”

During their deliberations, the council praised all three men for stepping forward to potentially fit the vacant seat. Thompson said past experience on the council, such as in Ward’s case, is important in his mind. But in the end, it was Lamkin’s interview that impressed him the most.

“I thought Tom Lamkin’s interview was absolutely outstanding,” he said. “He was quick to respond on every single question. Yet, they were thoughtful responses. To me that is an indication that out of 10 questions, he anticipated a lot of the questions he was going to be asked and thought it through.”