EPHRATA - Ephrata City Council welcomed a new member to the council Wednesday night.

Heidi Schultheis filled the seat vacated by Christine Youngberg.

A search committee chose her out of a group of five potential candidates, based on her strong financial experience along with the fact that she was a younger person with a younger child, City Administrator Wes Crago said.

Schulthies, a budget analyst at the Grant County PUD, said she grew up in the area and still has family here and has a vested interest in improving the city.

"Recently coming from Seattle, I found it's harder to make a direct difference in the big city," she said. "It's not on a grand scale, but here it can be something tangible."