Kate McBride was appointed by the Hood River City Council to serve for the next 15 months as Mayor.  McBride has been on the City Council since 2012, and will finish the term of Paul Blackburn, who resigned at the start of the month with his family moving out of the area.  During the interview process with Council when she was asked what she hoped to accomplish as Mayor, McBride included moving toward land banking for affordable housing development, working on new parking strategies for downtown, continuing development of a transportation systems plan, and the City becoming more energy efficient in its day to day operations.  McBride says it’s the same list the Council identified in its goal setting earlier this year.  McBride was selected over Ed Wilder, who emphasized road improvements and police department needs, and Jason Gibson, who objected to the process as he claimed he did not have enough to time to adequately prepare for the two minutes the candidates were given for each of the six questions they were asked.  The City will now work on filling McBride’s seat on the Council, with materials to be posted on the City’s website by the beginning of next week.