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A former council member has been appointed to fill the Third Ward seat left vacant by Joyce Poshusta, who stepped down earlier this year to pursue other opportunities.

During the Austin City Council meeting Monday night, Oballa Oballa was sworn in to the position. Oballa once served in the Second Ward, but had to step down himself when he moved out of ward and decided to run for the at-large seat.

“This is a great honor to be back,” Oballa said prior to Monday night’s meeting. “It’s a great honor to be back and continue the work (council) has been working on, especially working with department heads, building relationships and employee engagement.”

Poshusta, in the midst of her second term, announced in March that she would be stepping down after taking a job out of town. Her last meeting was in April.

Oballa will now fill out the remainder of her term and said he was encouraged to get back to work in order to help the city of Austin.

“The biggest thing is I’ve really been inspired by the work the current City Council is doing,” Oballa said. “The engagement they are continuing to do. The engagement they are continuing to do.”

Oballa comes in just as the council is beginning work on the 2026 budget, which itself has become something of a concern because of the Minnesota State Legislature failing to agree to a budget during the regular session.

“This is a big thing,” Oballa said. “That will be the thing I will be working on and making sure every department has what they need. I will be listening more to Third Ward and the residents of Austin. What do they want to be done?”