Earlier this month, four new city council members; Lorena Gonzalez, Lisa Herbold, Rob Johnson and Debra Juarez (joined incumbents), Sally Bagshaw, Tim Burgess, Bruce Harrell, Mike O’Brien, and Kshama Sawant form Seattle’s City Council. It is the first district-based representation system since 1910. This means that seven of the nine members each represent a geographic district in Seattle and the remaining 2 represent the city as a whole.
If you live on campus or around the university, your representative is the engaged and influential, Kshama Sawant. Follow her on Twitter for information about local issues and events! @cmkshama
The rest of the city is divided into the following districts:
District 1 (West Seattle, South Park): Lisa Herbold
District 2 (Southeast Seattle): Council President Bruce Harrell
District 3 (Central Area, Capitol Hill): Kshama Sawant
District 4 (Ravenna, Wallingford): Rob Johnson
District 5 (North Seattle): Debora Juarez
District 6 (Fremont, Ballard): Mike O’Brien
District 7 (Downtown, Magnolia): Sally Bagshaw
City-wide: Tim Burgess
City-wide: Lorena Gonzalez
It was an historic inauguration with the first Latina council member, the first Japanese American council member, and the first African American council member since 1989. The council also achieved its first female majority since 1998.
Together they will act on issues such as gun safety, public transportation, affordable housing, marijuana usage in Seattle, and gender equity as it relates to income.
For information about what our City Council is working on this year, check out their website and come back Her Campus Seattle University for updates, too!