Welcome to the city council

This Tuesday, two new council members will be sworn in.

Steve Bernheim is the biggest surprise of the election. I endorsed Steve because he walks his talk. For example, he often lectures us on how to reduce carbon emissions, and then he backs up his talk up by powering his house with solar panels and driving a little yellow electric car. He says he wants protect the charm of Edmonds, so as a citizen he joined a suit to overturn a bad council ruling on height limits. He won the suit and stopped an unnecessarily tall building from being built.

D.J. Wilson also will bring strength to the council. If I were to take a college political science course, I would want to take it from D.J. He is one of the few political science majors I know who actually decided to apply his trade by running for office. He should know political science better than most of his colleagues having experienced the election process first hand. He will be an effective council member, and I am looking to forward to sitting with him on the council.

Steve and D.J., I will give you the same advice I give all new council members: Think for yourself. You’re both capable people. Don’t let interests groups, staff, or your more senior colleagues (like me) get to you. You have proven yourself in some very difficult races and so you should stand on your own two feet and approach your council term with confidence and independence.

See ya guys Tuesday, and welcome to the city council.