The vacancy left on the King County Council for District No. 1 by Attorney General-elect Bob Ferguson is getting many applicants for the position. But Kenmore Mayor David Baker and Rep. Cindy Ryu are two names that could have wide reaching impacts for the Northshore community.
Both elected officials, along with 11 other District 1 residents, have submitted applications with the Citizen Advisory Committee. The committee will recommend the most qualified applicants to King County Executive Dow Constantine. He will then narrow the pool down to three candidates for the King County Council to vote on. The council has until March to make a selection.
Ryu and Baker are among the first 13 candidates to apply for the position. The district represents citizens of Kenmore, Bothell, Shoreline, and areas of Woodinville, Kirkland and north Seattle.
“Whoever is chosen, we need to make sure that person is well versed in issues that are important to the area,” said Baker.
Baker, among others, was surprised that Ryu applied for the position after winning re-election to the Washington State Legislature. Ryu was first elected to Pos. 1 from the 32nd District in 2010.
The Reporter could not reach Ryu for comment.
Ryu was the first Korean-American female mayor in the country, elected in Shoreline in 2008.
Some of the other applicants include: Tiffany Bond, who is the former Parks and Recreation commissioner for the City of Woodinville; Chris Eggen, a former Shoreline City Council member; Will Hall, a former Shoreline City Council member; Bob Ransom, a former Shoreline City Council member; Keith Scully, the former Planning Commissioner for Shoreline; and Sarajane Siegfriedt, a King County Board of Equalization member and former candidate for State Representative, 46th District.
“I think there are people running who have good qualifications and I think there are some that don’t,” said Baker. “Given my involvement during the past nine years in the region on different committees I think I would represent Kenmore and the North end very well.”
Baker has served on the King County Regional Transportation Committee, the Board of Health and the King County Regional Joint Recommendations Committee for Affordable Housing.
Baker is a 17-year resident of Kenmore and was first elected to the Kenmore City Council in 2004. He ran for State Senate in 2010 against Maralyn Chase as a Republican and lost.
The appointee will serve in office until certification of the next general election in November 2013.
Baker said that transportation and human services would be his top priorities.
“Cities are going through some deep cuts (to human services) and the county is left to make it up,” said Baker. “We have to preserve Metro services because a lot of people rely on them.”
Among the Citizen Advisory Committee are Co-Chair Kathe Fowler, a Kirkland resident and Board vice president of the Washington Environmental Council and Board president-elect of the Kirkland Performance Center, along with Kenmore resident Beretta Gomillion, who is the executive director of the Center for Human Services.
The 13 applicants for the District 1 King County Council seat:
• David Baker — Mayor, City of Kenmore
• Dennis Behrend — Bond agent, Lacey OMalley Agency; English teacher, Mercer Education Group, Inc.
• Tiffany Bond — former Parks and Recreation Commissioner, City of Woodinville; Principal, BrandBond
• Rod Dembowski — Attorney, Foster Pepper PLLC
• Chris Eggen — Councilmember, City of Shoreline; Analyst, Applied Physics Laboratory
• Ken Goodwin — Commissioner, Woodinville Water District; member, King County Investment Pool Advisory Committee
• Will Hall — Councilmember, City of Shoreline; Senior Legislative Analyst, Snohomish County Council
• Bob Ransom — Commissioner, Ronald Wastewater District; former Councilmember, City of Shoreline
• Cindy Ryu — State Representative, 32nd District
• Keith Scully — Planning Commissioner, City of Shoreline; Attorney, Newman Du Wors
• Sarajane Siegfriedt — Member, King County Board of Equalization; former candidate for State Representative, 46th District
• Chuck Sloane — Deputy Ombudsman, King County Office of Citizen Complaints – Ombudsman; Board Chair, Municipal League of King County
• Naomi Wilson — Grants Specialist, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
