I am a community leader, environmental health advocate and proud mother of two great high school kids attending Everett public schools. I have spent my career collaborating with community members to address complex issues affecting Snohomish County. 

I am proud of the work I accomplished in the last four years to address homelessness and improve housing affordability, champion public safety reforms and address public safety needs and protect our environment to combat and mitigate the impacts of climate change. In my time as council, I have been recognized by my peers as a collaborative partner and voted into several leadership roles, including Council Chair, Chair of the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency and Vice Chair of the Growth Management Board of Puget Sound Regional Council.

Issues been fighting for as your elected representative:

Homelessness and Housing Affordability

• Passed Ordinance 21-098 which will provide transformational sustainable revenue to address housing affordability and the homelessness crisis in our county. Based on the current business plan, these funds will proving housing for half of our current unsheltered population in the next 5 years

• Supported purchasing two hotels to be converted into emergency shelter and provide 150 units in Everett and Edmonds

• Worked to improve ADU/DADU zone changes for affordable housing options in urban areas

• Supported efforts to streamline permitting and incentivize infill development

• Fought for funds to add a position to create gender parity through accurate deeds with our Assessor’s Office

Public Safety and improving the criminal justice system

• Funded body cameras for all our Snohomish County Deputies

• Allocated federal funding to reduce the number of cases pending assignment and processing by our prosecutors and courts

• Championed the addition of three Designated Crisis Responders to our County’s 2021 Budget to work directly with sheriffs for outreach during calls for unsheltered neighbors. Supported adding two more in 2023

• Advocated for funds for three additional prosecutors, training for deputies and increased funds for public defenders in the 2023 budget

• Added a review of County’s specialty courts with a specific request to review a possible new Veterans Treatment Court, working towards implementation in 2024

• Increased deputy employment contract to be in line with other counties and incentivize new hires

Community

• Raised the Progress Flag at the County Campus and hosted an LGBTQIA+ Informational Fair to kick off Pride Month in Snohomish County, along with some amazing Drag Queens and cherished community members

• Championed and passed an ordinance to strengthen the apprenticeship utilization programs in Snohomish County, currently seeing 19% utilization rate.

• Fought for additional funding to the County budget specifically for equity and social justice work  

• Facilitated and passed a Code Change to include a Tribal Land Acknowledgement at the second General Legislative Session each month 

• Received Certificate of Appreciation from the Snohomish County Arts Commission and fought to add back the 1% for the Arts funding!

• Allocated $160M in Federal ARPA Dollars for small business support, emergency housing and rental assistance outreach, and COVID response and recovery efforts

• Added a DEI position to the council

Sustainability

• Championed a council-initiated amendment to enhance tree canopy coverage and forest stewardship in our County’s 2024 Comprehensive Plan considerations

• Served on the National League of Cities’ Energy, Environment, and Land Use Steering Committee and represented our county in Anchorage, Alaska at the Western Interstate Regional conference

• Finalized the CPACER program and passed a new program manual to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. C-PACER is a financial tool to provide low-cost financing for energy efficient commercial property retrofitting and upgrades.

• Represented Washington State at the EPA’s Local Government Advisory Committee meeting in Washington DC to make recommendations for local implementation of new national funding like the Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act

• Included funding in the Budget to address septic issues in the Tulalip area

• Added funding for an extension of the Centennial Trail to connect Everett and Snohomish along the Lowell River Trail. 

Leadership

• Voted by my peers as Vice Chair in 2021 and Chair in 2022, unanimously passed a council amendment and $1.5 billion dollar budget in 2022

• Voted unanimously as the new Chair of the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency in March, the first female to have this role

• Voted Vice Chair of the Growth Management Policy Board for Puget Sound Regional Council, an organization that plans for regional transportation, growth management and economic development.

• Appointed as Chair of the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee (LTAC), where we distribute local funds from the hotel/motel tax

Background

I spent several years leading the successful campaign to establish city council districts for Everett. The Everett Districts Now campaign was a nonpartisan, grassroots coalition dedicated to addressing disparities in representation and giving communities greater participation in the democratic process. 

Prior to being elected, I served as the Healthy People and Communities Program Director with the Northwest Center for Alternatives to Pesticides, where I led efforts to help protect communities from harmful pesticides and chemicals. I now serve as a member of the Board and the organization has embraced a shared leadership model called distributed leadership. I also served on the Everett Human Needs Committee and the 2012 Everett Streets Initiative Task Force and the Everett Planning Commission.

I am a life-long advocate for protecting our environment. I am dedicated to ensuring that all of our communities have access to clean air to breathe and fresh water to drink. I have studied humpback whales in Massachusetts, taught sign language to gorillas in California, and worked at Rainforest Action Network. I was able to transfer this work by organizing community leaders to protect tree canopy across Snohomish County, establish a new CPACER program for investments in energy efficiency and championing new waste reduction efforts. 

I also worked for Service Employees International Union (SEIU) fighting for working families, where I helped secure a citywide contract which included the first ever guaranteed sick days, raises for workers and safer working conditions. 

I am a proven leader for public policy changes that improve the lives of our community. I have a bachelor’s degree in Biology-Geology from University of Rochester and a Master of Arts in Policy Studies from University of Washington-Bothell. I live in Everett with her husband, two teenagers and our rescue dog. 

If I’m re-elected I’ll continue to fight for sustainability, livability and affordability and I’ll re-focus on the emerging issues facing the county, including workforce development needs, reducing waste, continuing to make local government more efficient with a biennial budget and helping our small businesses recover from COVID.