With Ink Still Wet On Everett City Council Districts Map, Candidate Announcements Begin

The 9 member Everett Districting Commission has completed their work and decided on a final layout of the five City Council Districts that will take effect next year. Next week the Everett City Council is expected to accept the District Map but one potential candidate isn’t waiting to announce her intention to run for District 2. That district stretches from Port Gardner Bay east across downtown over to the Snohomish River and touches eight different neighborhoods. Here’s the press release sent to MyEverettNews.com by Paula Rhyne that includes an endorsement from Mayor Cassie Franklin.

Here are the boundaries for District 2.

“Moving to a district system has provided a unique opportunity for more deliberate representation of people and issues across Everett and I look forward to use my utilizing my background in constituent relations and public policy to represent all people and small business interests in District 2 in an equitable and responsive manner,” said Paula Rhyne. “As we move into 2021 and the people and businesses in Everett continue to wade through the economic impacts of COVID, I am committed to working with the community to advocate for a recovery that works for everyone.”

Paula’s campaign announcement has also earned the endorsement of Mayor Cassie Franklin. “Paula has demonstrated her strengths in and commitment to thoughtful and meaningful community engagement,” said Mayor Franklin. “Her extensive work and volunteer experience will serve our Everett residents well as the representatives for Everett District 2, which will also be my home district.”

Paula was raised in Snohomish County and she and her family currently live in the Port Gardner neighborhood. She is a two-time graduate of the University of Washington with a Bachelors Degree in Political Science and a Masters Degree from the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance. She previously worked for King County Councilmember Bob Ferguson as a legislative intern, and then carried forward as Director of Constituent Relations with Councilmember Rod Dembowski after Bob Ferguson was elected as Attorney General.

Past experience also includes serving as Board President of the University District Food Bank where she oversaw a board of 12 people and an operating budget of $1 million. She currently works as the Legislative Aide for Snohomish County Councilmember Megan Dunn where she has worked on policies benefitting working families, housing and homelessness measures, equity and social justice initiatives, bolstering human services resources, and supporting justice-involved veterans.

Next year Council Districts 1 – 5 will be on the fall ballot along with the Everett Mayor’s position. All have four-year terms and are non-partisan. Candidates running for any of those five positions must live within the boundary of that district. Council position 6 which is held by Brenda Stonecipher and Council position 7 which is held by Judy Tuohy are at-large positions which are city-wide. They do not come back before voters until 2023.