Applause burst through the Orem City Council chambers Thursday night as soon as the council voted unanimously to appoint Mark Seastrand as its newest member.

Seastrand, who was sitting in the back of the room with his wife when his name was announced for a position for which 14 people applied, said he was shocked.

"I must say I slept very good the last two nights knowing that someone else was going to be selected," he said.

Seastrand will finish the remaining two years of Councilman Doug Forsyth's term. Forsyth died Dec. 21. His wife, Andrea Forsyth, was in the audience to see the selection. Seastrand said he knows taking over Forsyth's position won't be easy.

"I've got some big shoes to fill," Seastrand told Mayor Jerry Washburn quietly, shaking his hand after the meeting had ended.

Seastrand was born and raised in Utah County, earned two degrees from Brigham Young University and has lived in Orem for 45 years. He works for Inspire Graphics, a Web site that sells artistic content.

The city's newest official spent the next 15 minutes after the meeting ended shaking hands of the other applicants, City Council members and other city leaders.

He applied for the position because in his 45 years as a resident, he's been served many times. He wants to return some of that service to the community.

"I'm just very humbled," he said, adding the list of applicants made for an impressive group, but said that kind of volunteer and service-oriented spirit wasn't a surprise. "I think that's very indicative of Orem."

He sees continuing along the path the council is on as a major goal, citing victories in the 2004 road bond and the 2005 CARE tax as signs that the citizens were happy with their government. Managing the continued growth of Utah Valley State College and different parts of the city and maintaining a healthy retail base and the economy's vibrancy also were issues he wants to see tackled.

Both Washburn and Mayor Pro Tem Dean Dickerson thanked all of the applicants.

"I want to apologize to the person we're about to appoint," Dickerson added. "Your life is going to be immensely more complicated than it was 20 minutes ago."

Heidi Toth can be reached at 344-2543 or htoth@heraldextra.com.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page D1.