Karen Pachuta moved to Doraville in 1999.

“I still wanted to be close to Atlanta but somewhere affordable with more space,” the 39-year-old North Carolina native said. “And I love the [ethnic] diversity around here.”

Ms. Pachuta moved to DeKalb County in 1995 after graduating from North Carolina State University.

“With the Olympics coming there were a lot of jobs popping up and it seemed like a good opportunity,” she said.

For 10 years Ms. Pachuta did marketing and communication work for several businesses and nonprofits. During that time she enrolled in Emory University Law School and, in 2005, earned her law degree.

Ms. Pachuta got involved with Doraville’s government in 2007 when the city sought resident input on the renovation of English Oak Park.

The park is near Ms. Pachuta’s home in the Oakcliff Estates neighborhood.

From that point, Ms. Pachuta became a regular at the city’s public hearings and a graduate of the city’s citizen police academy.

“I started considering this my home,” she said. “I just ended up getting more and more involved.”

In 2007, District 3 Councilman Bob Spangler was one of three to vote to fire city Police Chief John King after he was called to service in Iraq for long stretches of time with the Georgia National Guard. Ms. Pachuta and Councilman Brian Bates led recall efforts against two of those who voted for the firing.

“A lot of citizens were very angry. Chief King was very popular among the citizens,” Ms. Pachuta said.

And when the District 3 seat came up for election this year, Ms. Pachuta decided to challenge Spangler for the office. She secured the seat after winning last week’s runoff election.

Ms. Pachuta, who is single, works under contract with different Atlanta law firms assisting with research and litigation — skills she believes will make her an effective member of the Doraville City Council.

“Litigation is just making compromises,” she said.

“I’m used to doing research and I don’t make a decision until I have all the data.”

Doraville officials, like Mayor Ray Jenkins, who said he got to know Ms. Pachuta through her frequent appearances at city council meetings, think she will be a good addition to the board.

“I think she’s very qualified,” Jenkins said. “She is an attorney and I think she will be an asset to us.”

Ms. Pachuta said she will spend the next month meeting with the Doraville city attorney getting up to date on the city council’s pending action and familiarizing herself with Doraville’s codes and ordinances.

“I have a lot of reading to do in the next few weeks,” she said.

Ms. Pachuta is set to be sworn into office at the city council meeting on Jan. 4.