As many of us in Capitol Hill focus our attention on Seattle City Council District elections, Shell in our port, teacher strikes, and the beautiful weather, there are also important neighborhood-specific needs to be attentive to — the Capitol Hill Community Council officer elections.
Each year in June, the Capitol Hill Community Council holds an election for officers that seek to represent the neighborhood and lead the community group for the next year. Over the last few years, through turbulent, exciting times to quiet, continued public service, many of the familiar neighborhood names and faces have sat on the community council.

The June election includes faces you’ve seen at our meetings over the last year; five current council members are seeking positions on the council: Zachary Pullin for President, Elliot Helmbrecht for Vice President, Mike Archambault for Treasurer, Natalie Curtis for Secretary, and Derek DeWolf for At-Large.
There are two remaining  at-large positions that will have no incumbents running. Jesse Perrin, policy staffer with the City of Seattle who has worked with the Capitol Hill Community Council helping to charter our Programs Committee and leading community service/outreach efforts since February; and, former radio host and current Communications Director for Washington United for Fair Revenue, Reiny Cohen, have filed to run for the two At-Large positions. But this does not mean that we are finished collecting interested applicants to serve on the Capitol Hill Community Council.

This year, our most recently elected President George Bakan will not seek to continue his role on the Capitol Hill Community Council. Through his committed service to our neighborhood group, pivotal leadership on critical issues to the community, and enthusiasm for fostering the beautiful Capitol Hill neighborhood we’ve all come to know and love, George’s service to our council and community is immeasurable and we are grateful for him.

With a one-year term (June to June) and our filing deadline coming up tomorrow, Thursday, May 21, there is still ample time for people to apply.

We are particularly interested in increasing representation and adding voices from communities of color, young and older people, queer and trans* people, people with disabilities, and people with children.

Candidates must submit a short bio, a declaration of candidacy, which council position they are running for, and a description of why they are interested in running for their declared position to [email protected]. The council meets monthly — typically on the third Thursday.

As folks apply, we will post to our Facebook page and at capitolhillcommunitycouncil.org so everybody can learn more about the people applying to serve on the Capitol Hill Community Council.

We’ll also introduce the candidates at our next meeting:

May Meeting: Pike/Pine Pedestrian Street Plan
Thursday, May 28 at 6:30pm
12th Avenue Arts

Our May meeting is taking place a week later than usual, on Thursday, the 28th, and we are hosting an interactive conversation about piloting temporary pedestrian streets in Pike/Pine.

Learn about:
-Options being looked at
-Examples from other cities (Vancouver, Portland, Austin, Copenhagen, NYC, Fresno)
-Community feedback so far

Is this a good idea? Share your thoughts on timing, location, and programming.

Hear from:
-Capitol Hill EcoDistrict staff coordinating outreach for this project
-City staff
-Local businesses
-Your neighbors!

+PLUS! Updates from the Capitol Hill Champion, new council member John Okamoto, and a divestment resolution!