On the heels of the announcements from two other local political hopefuls, Highland Park resident Lisa Herbold announced her candidacy for the Seattle City Council District 1 position. She has worked for Councilmember Nick Licata for the past 17 years as his legislative aide. Already announced are Chas Redmond, Amanda Kay Helmick, Brianna Thomas, Philip Tavel and George Capestany. Thomas and Tavel announced in the last two days.

In an announcement on her website, www.district1forherbold.com she made the following statement:

Hello Friends – I’m Lisa Herbold and I’m running for Seattle City Council’s District 1. District 1 is West Seattle and South Park and all the dynamic, diverse neighborhoods within. I’ve lived in Highland Park for 15 years, raised my daughter here, and enjoy all the great parks and small businesses that flourish here. I love West Seattle and South Park – District 1 is home sweet home.

Seattle City Council’s new district system is an amazing opportunity for neighborhoods to have a dedicated presence in City Hall. I’ve been privileged to serve as Seattle City Councilmember Nick Licata’s legislative aide for 17 years. I believe I can be the effective, qualified, and responsive advocate and steward for you and the issues you care about.

I’m running because I’m excited to continue the work I’ve done with Nick Licata, I’m excited about the democratic potential of the new district system, and I’m excited to represent you – my community – as your District 1 Councilmember. I’m looking forward to getting to know you, sharing our hopes and concerns for our district and our city, and achieving great things together.

We’re going to want to talk about the Issues – I’m proud of my reputation as an agent for open, accessible and responsive government, and I’ll continue that in District 1.
I’m going to be sure that I’m aware, informed, and available for all our community’s issues and always working towards finding positive solutions.

Managing Seattle’s growth presents important challenges to us all. We live in an attractive and livable community. Density is an important urban value, but it must be considered together with the other values that are also important to our quality of life- open space, mobility, public safety, and affordability.

My earliest public service experiences were as a neighborhood organizer. I’ve been successfully advocating for the fair distribution of public resources for a long time now. I believe every neighborhood deserves equal rights to well-maintained streets and sidewalks, parks and open space, youth and senior programming, and appropriate police and fire forces.

In all our day-to-day lives, we’re often frustrated with the tricky challenges of transportation. We have cars, bikes, busses, motorcycles and ferries in the mix. We have families, jobs, and freight to consider. Not to mention, we’re all sensitive to carbon emissions and the wellness of our environment. There are no easy answers, but I believe that we can initiate successful dialogue and make forward progress.

I have never been afraid of hard work. If I were – I wouldn’t be running any campaign, ever – I’d know better! However, and all kidding aside– I’ll work as hard as it takes because I’m devoted to my community, because advocating for fairness is my life’s work, and because I’m happy to hear and deliver your voices as Seattle City Councilmember for District 1.