As Seattle residents prepare to vote for Mayor, City Attorney, and City Council (District 2 and Positions 8 and 9) during the primary election on August 5 and the general election on November 4, voting is underway this spring to elect the Capitol Hill Community Council’s leadership board.

After going dormant roughly five years ago, the CHCC relaunched late last summer under Paulus’ lead. The new group’s first meeting drew 80 people to the Capitol Hill Branch Library on September 10. An equally large group gathered at the Hugo House on January 22 for CHCC’s Great Ideas Festival to brainstorm what they would like to see the neighborhood group pursue. The CHCC has an active newsletter, hosts regular public meetings and Happy Hour socials, and has adopted bylaws, shared information about the Neighborhood Matching Fund program and the Seattle Police Department’s East Precinct community safety and crime prevention efforts, and launched the Capitol Hill Appreciates Program, a monthly effort to thank the “various elements of society that make Capitol Hill the great place that it is today.”

Six candidates are running for positions on the seven-member board:

• Curtis Atkisson — A University of Washington data scientist and Capitol Hill resident who lives near Harvard and Thomas, Atkisson said, “I have experience applying for and distributing grants, and would work to do that on behalf of the people of Capitol Hill. I will learn about the resources that currently exist to contribute to our neighborhood and work to bring more resources to the things the Community Council would like to achieve.” TOP 3 PRIORITIES: Community Connectivity, Transportation, and Government/Laws.
• Paul Esteves — A Capitol Hill resident for nearly 10 years, Esteves is a P-Patch gardener with the Howell Collective in Seven Hills Park. “My long-term vision is to regrow the power of citizen assemblies such as this one,” Esteves said. “Federating neighborhood delegates into a municipal body will help defeat the rot that representative democracy has brought into our city and nation.” TOP 3 PRIORITIES: Government/Laws, Community Connectivity, and Zoning/Housing.
• Joseph Galagan — A resident of Capitol Hill for the past 38 years, Galagan noted his children grew up on the Hill and attended school nearby. He is a former high school counselor/educator (now retired) who participated in Seattle Public Utilities’ Adopt a Street program for the past three years, cleaning 15th Avenue East between East Howe and East Howell Streets. “I am 70 years old with an array of leadership and volunteer experience,” Galagan said. “I will bring honest judgment and a spirit of positive energy to help make Capitol Hill an even better place to grow and prosper.” TOP 3 PRIORITIES: Community Connectivity, Youth Resources, and Parks.
• Jackie Makdah — A Capitol Hill resident for the past six years, Makdah said, “I would advocate for better transit, affordable housing, and justice for marginalized people and groups. I would help engage and connect the community to inspire positive change since together we have so much collective power.” TOP 3 PRIORITIES: Zoning/Housing, Transportation, and Community Connectivity.
• Chris Paulus — Paulus aims to better connect the community and said he wants to serve on the board because “I think it is a good idea.” TOP 3 PRIORITIES: Community Connectivity, Transportation, and Government/Laws.
• Spencer Rawls — A Capitol Hill resident and worker, Rawls said, “I would work to negotiate deals with the city where community members can voluntarily take on public space improvement efforts they are passionate about. I would like people to be able to build a fenced-in dog park in Cal Anderson, start their own (new) community garden elsewhere in the park or in other parks, install traffic calming on their residential streets, or narrow down sections of residential streets to use for public seating or other public space.” TOP 3 PRIORITIES: Transportation, Zoning/Housing, and Community Connectivity.

Candidates were required to register online by May 14, needed to be at least 16 years old as of May 28, and could not hold any active elected public office positions. Ranked Choice Voting will determine who will serve full two-year terms and who will serve one-year terms, setting up a staggered format for annual elections of two-year terms in the future. Board members will then vote for leadership positions such as president and vice president.

Although there are six candidates for a seven-member board, Paulus hopes voters will still turn out to show their support for the organization. “The more voting and engagement, the more support and legitimacy it gives the candidates,” he told CHS. “We want the CHCC elected officers to do a lot of hard work and have hard conversations on our behalf. It’s much easier to do that when you are supported by 100 voters than when you are supported by 10.”

As for voters, if you are at least 16 years old as of May 28 and have an interest in the future of Capitol Hill, you can register online here. You can also vote in person between 6:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. at the CHCC Election Night Party on Wednesday, May 28, at Seattle Central College. More information can be found on the Elections, Candidate FAQ, Voter FAQ, and Meet the Candidates pages on the CHCC’s website.

“In these times of turmoil, it is more important that we connect with each other,” Paulus told CHS. “The CHCC elections bring the group to the next step in its evolution, one where it can say that it speaks for more of Capitol Hill, rather than just the people who were at the first meeting. If you are invested in Capitol Hill and want to make it a better place, I think the Capitol Hill Community Council can be a home for you.”

Some might ask why the CHCC is holding an election eight months after the group relaunched. “Starting a group that attempts to represent people of Capitol Hill was always going to be hard,” Paulus explained. “I have heard of groups just having an election at the first meeting. That is certainly efficient, but it doesn’t let the people who missed that meeting have their voices heard. Not having an election earlier is not without its challenges. It has caused the CHCC to be more hesitant in what it does. [But] that time has given the CHCC more time to connect with parts of the community.”

More information about the CHCC is available at capitolhillcommunitycouncil.com.

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