 White Salmon was named after the White Salmon, a now-extinct species of salmon that lived in the Columbia and surrounding area.White Salmon's current city government includes Mayor Marla Keefler, who was re-elected to a new, four-year term in November 2019.New council members elected in November 2019 to four-year terms include Ashley Post (Position 1), David Lindley (Position 2), Jason Hartmann (Position 3) and Amy Martin (Position 4) and Joe Turkiewicz (Position 5).