Everett, Washington Mayor Cassie Franklin Formally Announces Re-election Bid

November 30, 2020

Everett Government

She’s been raising money and accepting donations for months and today Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin issued a formal announcement of her intention to run for another 4-year-term. Here’s the announcement.

Cassie

Cassie, Panda and David Franklin. Candidate supplied photo.

Mayor Cassie Franklin is seeking re-election to the office Everett voters chose her for in 2017. Franklin is the first woman elected to Everett’s highest office and has led the City’s efforts to bring together diverse voices to create meaningful and responsible solutions to our most difficult challenges.

“As mayor, I will continue to work across our region to create jobs and increase community investments that will improve our city for everyone who calls Everett home,” Franklin said. “No one could have predicted the challenges we have faced over the last year, but our city is incredibly resilient, and our best days are still ahead. For our beautiful City of Everett to recover and truly prosper, all our residents need to feel safe, supported and engaged in our community.”

Since her election, Franklin has led bold reforms and issued directives to improve public safety, economic development, equity, and fiscal sustainability — including difficult choices made necessary during the pandemic. Everett is now on a stronger path navigating 21st century challenges, and we lead our state on the most important issues facing residents.

Franklin’s re-election campaign boasts bipartisan endorsements from: U.S. Representative Rick Larsen; Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers, Treasurer Brian Sullivan, Councilmembers Megan Dunn, Stephanie Wright, Jared Mead and Nate Nehring; Everett City Councilmembers Paul Roberts and Liz Vogeli, and former Councilmember Ethel McNeal; state legislators Marko Liias, Steve Hobbs, Emily Wicks, April Berg and John Lovick; and mayors Nicola Smith of Lynnwood, Jennifer Gregerson of Mukilteo, Jon Nehring of Marysville, Dan Rankin of Darrington, and Brett Gailey of Lake Stevens.

Career history

Franklin’s career has been defined by leadership and service. Since an early age, she has been drawn toward mission-driven work and making a positive impact in her community. After completing graduate studies in psychology, she began working in the nonprofit sector for organizations focused on education, housing and homelessness, and animal welfare. That trajectory led her to Cocoon House, a regional nonprofit serving at-risk youth with housing and comprehensive support to find stability and belonging in our community while preventing youth homelessness. Under her leadership, Cocoon House became a recognized national leader in the field and grew to create a comprehensive Hub of all-inclusive services for youth experiencing homelessness to support the region.

In 2013 she was invited to participate in the City of Everett’s Safe Streets Initiative, led by then-mayor Ray Stephanson. She was elected to the City Council in 2015. In that role she continued leading the effort in Everett’s safe streets programs as the council liaison, served on the Animal Shelter Advisory Board and the Council’s Public Safety committee, as Lodging Tax Committee Chair, and established Everett as a Safe City for all residents. In wanting to put to use her executive experience and strengths to better serve the city, Franklin ran for mayor in 2017.

Priorities

Operating within the City’s financial means has been a priority for Franklin since she was elected mayor. Everett has functioned with a long-term structural deficit for years, so she went about crafting balanced budgets to address the imbalance between revenue and popular demand for the most critical public services, such as public safety, transportation and infrastructure, and parks. She has continued to prioritize fiscal responsibility and long-term sustainability, and in her first three years has cut millions out of the long-term deficit and put the city on a more sustainable path.

Another priority is ensuring safety in the city, and ensuring Everett is a safe, welcoming city for all, where everyone can thrive and pursue opportunities for success. Her signature priorities have been implemented through six mayoral directives: public safety, focused on youth and gang violence; community planning and economic development; community engagement and inclusion; Safe Streets programs; correcting the structural budget deficit; and building unity, addressing racism and promoting equity for all.

While she continues to build on the work advanced through these directives, the current pandemic has prompted a need for additional emphasis in the areas of public health, economic recovery, and homelessness. Since the first case of coronavirus in the U.S. was reported in Everett, Franklin has worked steadily to protect public health, shield the economy, and minimize the impact of the virus in our community. She collaborates with leaders at the local, regional, and state level to develop and implement decisions based on the best available knowledge of this previously unknown threat.

Her goals going forward include successfully guiding Everett through the pandemic, creating more housing at all price points, developing short- and long-term solutions to homelessness, expanding workforce development and retraining skilled workers, cultivating a vibrant arts scene, and continuing work to diversify our economy to ensure we emerge stronger on the other side.

Her campaign website is MayorCassieFranklin.com



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