Meet The Councilmember – Brenda Stonecipher

Usually in this space we introduce you to a local business owner in Everett, Washington but today we’re going to change that up a bit and introduce you to one of the longest-serving members of the Everett City Council, Brenda Stonecipher. (She also owns a business, Stonecipher Consulting)

On Wednesday Brenda Stonecipher presided over her last meeting of the year finishing a 20-year stint on the City Council in Everett, Washington. She was first elected in 2003, defeating a 26-year incumbent, Dale Pope. This past year she served as President of the Everett City Council. It was the third time in her two-decades of service she’d been elected President by fellow Councilmembers.

Prior to running for City Council she volunteered on the City’s Performing Arts Board, was appointed by then-Mayor Ed Hansen to the committee overseeing the creation of the Everett Events Center and served on the City of Everett Planning Commission.

Brenda Stonecipher grew up in south Everett. She graduated from Cascade High School in 1983, went to Edmonds Community College and then on to the University of Washington where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature and then a Master of Business Administration from the Foster School of Business at UW.

She’s been married to her husband Tom for 35 years and they have two children. Her full time job is as Principal of Stonecipher Consulting which has been growing over the years and now has five employees. She’s a CPA whose firm works in the educational and non-profit arenas using data to guide clients to success.

One of the reasons she ran for City Council two decades ago was to ensure accessibility to arts, culture, parks and libraries for everyone in the community.

“I grew up in a blue collar family in south Everett,” Ms. Stonecipher told me. “My parents made the effort to take us to arts stuff and that’s a driver for me, to make sure that parents and kids of every economic status can enjoy arts, parks and culture here in Everett.”

She went on to talk about how twenty years ago arts were more an afterthought than priority, describing herself as a pro-business democrat holding the belief that it is Government’s role to provide support for the arts.

“My role is to give voice to the other side,” she explained. “Here’s why we should be looking at this differently, make people think.”

When I asked her what she was most proud of in her twenty-plus years of service to Everett she listed multiple things including the Downtown Everett Plaza, keeping parks and quality of life in the forefront during budget discussions, holding the line on taxation and arguing for strong fiscal management.

I also asked her what she felt had changed over the years?

“There’s always been dissention amongst council members,” she said. “You’re either in the majority or you’re not and that changes over time but the people, the public are angry. Everything happening nationally is also happening here and things are a little more contentious.”

Stonecipher was for the formation of City Council districts citing the importance to have all neighborhoods represented but feels Covid may have made the transition harder than it might have been.

As far as what has brought her joy during her time on the council?

“The city staff is amazing,” she exclaimed! “There have been and still are so many talented people in our departments. So many good quality people who work for our city and they make things happen. I’ve enjoyed serving the community and learned so much about how a city works. When I go on vacation I’ll look around and ask people where do you get your water? It makes me think about how services get delivered.”

As far as advice for people looking to get involved in City government she said, “There’s a role for everyone in our system…If you want to be an activist, be an activist but your job as an activist is to be unyielding. If you want to be a legislator it’s harder to be unyielding, there’s a bigger need to compromise.”