Councilmember Alex Pedersen (District 4, Northeast Seattle), surrounded by his family, friends, supporters and community, was sworn into office on Tuesday evening by City Clerk Monica Martinez Simmons at Magnuson Park Officers Club following the certification of the 2019 election results by King County Elections.
Pedersen will serve his first day in office on Wednesday, November 27. The District 4 Council seat was vacated earlier this year when then-Councilmember Rob Johnson left his position. On April 22, 2019, Councilmember Abel Pacheco was appointed to fill the seat until the elections had been certified.
Pedersen focused his remarks on gratitude and collaboration during his swearing in ceremony and pledged to focus on the priorities of his district and “to be a voice of reason using facts and data.” Pedersen also laid out his vision, focusing on a more accountable city government reducing homelessness, expanding mass transit finding “financial savings” to “redeploy to our priorities.”
You can read the full version of Pedersen’s speech here.
Pedersen brings more than two decades of experience working on community development, affordable housing, and fiscal accountability issues in both the public and private sectors. He served Seattle as City Council Legislative Aide to Tim Burgess, worked on homelessness programs at the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development during the Clinton Administration, and managed financial analysts to fund the preservation, renovation, or construction of over 30,000 units of affordable housing across the country. Pedersen earned his Master of Government Administration from the University of Pennsylvania focusing on budgeting, accounting, finance, and public sector management.
Pedersen recently announced his team of Legislative Analysts, including:
- Alexa Halling, the former Chair of the 43 rd District Democrats, a Registered Dietitian and the Director of Policy and Advocacy for the Washington State Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
- Cara Kadoshima Vallier, a former paralegal at the City Attorney’s Office who earlier served on several City of Los Angeles committees addressing discrimination against women and equitable development of ethnic communities.
- Lhorna Murray is a community advocate, an organizer and a professional artist. She serves as Vice President of Magnuson Community Center Advisory Council, is the North East Regional Co-Director for the Seattle Council Parent Teacher Association (PTA), and serves on the board of many community organizations.
- Toby Thaler, an attorney and long-time community leader who has extensive experience on land use, transportation, and environmental issues.
To view full staff bios, click here.
Councilmember Pedersen’s website can be found here.
