EDITORS NOTE: In an effort to go beyond the information in the voter’s pamphlet, we offered all candidates an opportunity to share more about their background to help voters get a better feel for who they are as a person and how they will impact the City of Everett.

Luis Burbano is running for Everett City Council in District 4

Luis Burbano is running for Everett City Council District 4.

How did you get into politics?

I have been very active in the community advocating for better quality of life, community safety, road safety, small business, and building permit streamlining.

I have been so active that I have been invited to the principal’s office (mayor’s office) to talk about the many letters I have sent and the neighborhood challenges.

I never considered going into politics until a friend told me that our district’s city council was not running to be reelected. That was 5 days before the registration day. I decided to give it a try.

What hobby or interest do you have that might surprise people?

I am building a food forest in my backyard. I have never been into gardening. However, I remember watching the final scene of Captain Fantastic in which a girl, after collecting some eggs from the chicken coop, sprints back to the house running between the plants of her garden. The scene is quite beautiful, and I wanted to have my daughter do the same thing. I started small.

However, one day my daughter’s teacher came to the house, and my daughter invited her to the garden. The teacher saw my daughter collecting yellow berries. The teacher told my 3 year old daughter that the berries were not ripe. My daughter told the teacher to try one. Then, the teacher realized that the berries were good and that a 3 year old knew more about berries than her teacher.

The teacher came back to the house and said that she was impressed with the garden and that I had created a Montessori environment for my daughter. That same afternoon, I went to the nursery, got more plants, and decided to make the entire property a food forest.

I would like to have community gardens in our schools and neighborhoods because community gardens allow people to eat healthy, learn something new, share with other neighbors and even reduce stress levels and anxiety.

What three endorsements are you most proud of & why?

1. The labor Unions’ endorsements because I am a worker, and I have seen firsthand how employers can be unfair to their employees, and I have also seen how Unions can leverage better contracts for the employees they represent. Unions show every time that a few little folks can have a louder voice than a bigger guy, and that is justice! I have been a Union represented employee for 14 years and Area Rep for SPEEA. I am also a SPEEA delegate at the Snohomish Labor Council.
2. The Everett Herald endorsement because they interviewed all the candidates, and they picked me. They could have picked the other guy or just walked away from the 3 of us, but they picked me.
3. Charles Adkins – Everett School Board Member endorsement because it was my first endorsement ever. Charles supported my campaign from the first day. Gratitude is embedded in the American values; I will always be grateful for the people who have put their trust in me.

What is something about the job many people don’t realize, and why are you a good fit for addressing that aspect of the job?

People don’t realize that if elected, we are representing the people of our district. It is our duty to talk to people and make sure that we fight for their needs. We are not elected to protect political parties or ideologies. I have seen more than one city council member voting against something because it does not align with the label of their party, even when presented with data.

I am a good fit for the job because I have the education, experience, training and analytical skills to make the best decision possible with the information available at the time.

What criticism have you received from your competitor or other people that is unfair, and why?

I have not heard any comments from my opponent; he is doing his thing, and I am doing mine. I met Mr. Rubio during the primary elections. Mr. Rubio has always been respectful towards me and my family. I wish Mr. Rubio the best for him and his beautiful family.

What are you most excited to work on if voted in?

Improving quality of life for the residents of District 4. District 4 is quite vibrant due to its diversity and is very well located. Unfortunately, it has not received the attention it deserves. I hope I can change that.

In District 4, we have roads that are not designed for all users and that have vehicle speeding issues. A replacement for the Fred Meyer needs to be found, and the buffer zone needs to be renewed.

Casino Rd residents will be affected by the Everett light rail. It is important that we mitigate this issue by creating more dignifying housing for low income residents. We need to encourage workers to live in Everett. South Everett hosts one of the largest employers in the state. However, we have been unable to use that resource, and instead of keeping the paychecks in the area, we only kept the pollution and the traffic. These are things that we need to change for a better Everett.

To learn more about Luis Burbano, visit his campaign site.