Last month, the Reporter reestablished a feature that has been absent from our opinion pages for quite some time — an editorial board.

We invited Islanders who are interested in discussing hot topics and endorsing campaigns to apply to join the board. Many of you responded; we carefully weighed each candidate in an effort to provide balanced perspectives and fairness on this board.

We selected four candidates and still have one position left to fill to round out the board. We are opening back up the application process as we seek a board member who will best provide balance to the current board. Please email editor@mi-reporter.com if you are interested.

In addition to myself and publisher William Shaw, our new members include Islanders Salim Nice, Leslie Meagley, Gary Robinson and Lisa Casterella.

Nice and his wife grew up on Mercer Island, and are alumni of the Mercer Island school system. In 2011, they moved back to the Island, drawn by the tight-knit community, schools, beauty of the parks and quality of life the Island offers. In many ways, Nice said his memories and experiences growing up on the Island have shaped his views of what makes Mercer Island such a special place. They recently welcomed their first child, Elliott, to their home and look forward to providing him with equally memorable experiences they have enjoyed growing up on Mercer Island. Nice also recently ran for the City Council.

Meagley is a longtime Island resident, having moved here in 1991 with her husband, Rich and two young daughters. She has served on City Council campaign teams, in high school sports activities and on a variety of other projects.Meagley is a principal with Meagley Strategic Marketing LLC, a consulting firm that began in 2003 in response to the need to help professionals strengthen their marketing and business development programs and build profitable firms. From 2009-2013, Meagley went in-house with client Perkins Coie where she served as director of marketing. Prior to that time, she led marketing for Preston Gates and Ellis (now KL Gates) for almost eight years and spent six years as a shareholder of a public relations firm.

She is the immediate past board chair of Leadership Tomorrow-Seattle and just completed service on the national board of the Legal Marketing Association. Meagley holds an MBA in marketing and finance from the University of Washington and a bachelor’s degree from Pomona College.

Robinson has lived on the Island for 37 years. His family moved here from the Dominican Republic, where Robinson worked as a management advisor for the Agency for International Development with the Secretariat of Health and Social Welfare of the Dominican government. He has worked with the Peace Corps, with USAID in El Salvador and the Dominican Republic, 16 years with Boeing, the World Health Organization in Switzerland and he is currently a professor for two online universities. He is also an associate with the International Institute for Child Rights and Development based in Victoria, B.C. His focus is on Latin America but he has worked in Tanzania, South Africa and Turkey. Robinson is keenly interested in international development and has lived or worked in 55 countries.

He and his wife have two sons who live on the Island and four grandchildren.

Casterella grew up on Mercer Island, has lived in many other places and returned seven years ago with her husband and two children, a high school freshman and a college junior. She enjoys freelance writing and walking in the woods with her dogs, where she meets other Islanders who remind her every day how special the Island is.

We look forward to weighing Island issues and providing you with more information to help you make the most informed decisions.