This afternoon the eight City Council members voted to appoint Kirsten Harris-Talley to fill the vacant position previously held by Tim Burgess.
Harris-Talley is a program director at Progress Alliance of Washington. She is also President and a board member of Surge Northwest. Recently she has been an activist with the “Block the Bunker” and “No New Youth Jail” groups. Here is her application for the Council position.
Three of the applicants were nominated by Council members: Harris-Talley by Harrell, Nick Licata by Herbold, and Abel Pacheco by Juarez. But when it came time to vote, Licata only received Herbold’s vote, Pacheco got the support of Juarez and Johnson, and the other five Council members threw their support behind Harris-Talley. There was respect paid to Licata and his progressive legislative history, but the supporters of Pacheco and Harris-Talley indicated a strong desire to create an opportunity for someone from the next generation of the city’s leaders.
Harris-Talley will serve until either Teresa Mosqueda or Jon Grant is certified as the winner of the upcoming election on November 28. Over the course of the six weeks, her primary work will be working on the 2018 city budget with her eight new colleagues.
Big news!