Deanna Duehning appointed to city council after extended selection process

After a lengthy process involving three meetings and four votes, the Guthrie City Council unanimously appointed Deanna Duehning to fill the vacant Ward 1 council seat during their Tuesday night meeting.

Duehning was selected to fill the term left by Adam Ropp, who vacated the seat earlier this year after being named mayor. The Ward 1 term runs through May 2027.

As a lifelong Guthrie resident, Duehning brings a strong connection to the community along with a well-established record of civic involvement. She has actively served in various nonprofit and volunteer capacities, including Helping Community Paws and Claws and the Hope House. Additionally, she played a key role on the Capital Improvement Project Oversight Committee for CIP #2, Growing Guthrie, offering guidance and leadership throughout the initiative.

Her professional career spans decades in the medical field, where she has demonstrated a consistent dedication to service, compassion, and operational leadership.

Four individuals initially applied for the vacancy, but one candidate, Robin Case, later withdrew from consideration. The remaining three candidates—Duehning, Franklin Danley, and Ed Wood—each participated in a public interview session. During the interviews, candidates were kept in a separate room to avoid hearing one another’s responses.

Danley and Wood had previously been interviewed in private sessions with groups of three council members before the May 20 council meeting. That meeting ended in a 3-3 deadlock on two separate votes: one supporting Danley and another for Wood. Council members Brian Bothroyd, Tracy Williams, and Jeff Taylor backed Wood, while Ropp, Menecca Gibbs, and Grant Aguiree supported Danley.

The deadlock carried over to the June 4 meeting, where Bothroyd made a motion to appoint Wood. The vote failed 3-2, with Ropp and Gibbs abstaining—an action recorded as a “no” vote under council rules. Aguiree was absent from that meeting.

Afterwards, the council agreed to reopen the application process.

During the June 17 meeting, the stalemate was finally broken when Bothroyd motioned to appoint Duehning. Taylor seconded the motion and quickly passed with a 6-0 vote. Duehning was then sworn in by Mayor Ropp and assumed her position on the council.

“Based on what we saw this evening, and in the past, Deanna is probably the right candidate,” Bothroyd said prior to making the motion.

No further discussion was held before the vote, closing the chapter on what had become an extended and closely watched appointment process.