City of SeaTac

Incumbent council member and deputy mayor Senayet Negusse is running for re-election to SeaTac City Council, Position 1. Negusse is a program manager for King County where she helps connect residents to county resources and information. Previously, she worked as an educator and dual-language coach for immigrants and refugees, a community she is personally connected with because her parents settled in South King County as Ethiopian refugees. In her spare time, Negusse is a member of the SeaTac-Tukwila Rotary Board and formerly volunteered for a program that provided meals for her senior neighbors.

Negusse’s campaign platform is focused on a united SeaTac where residents can lead healthy lives filled with opportunity. She has already worked towards this goal in office by passing renters’ protections, partnering with a local nonprofit to expand housing options, and making municipal departments more inclusive with language services and accessibility measures. In this race, she wants to uplift voices from the community to participate in the municipal process, continue improving housing options and tenant rights, invest in public infrastructure, and build out robust community services including emergency services. Negusse is endorsed by an impressive slate of progressive and Democratic organizations.

Challenging Negusse is Amy Rotter, who does not yet have a strong campaign presence in this race as of late September. Rotter appears to work in business and data for Starbucks. Without a campaign platform of any kind, it is not clear what kind of candidate she is.

Senayet Negusse is the clear choice in this race with her strong, progressive platform and her impressive track record in community leadership.
 

Progressive Elizabeth Greninger is running for SeaTac City Council, Position 3. With more than 15 years of social work experience, Greninger has helped people who have faced domestic violence, sexual assault, and housing instability. 

Greninger has a comprehensive plan to deliver safe, affordable, and accessible housing to all SeaTac residents. For example, she would make it easier for homeowners to convert or build accessory dwelling units on their properties. Along with advocating for higher minimum wages, Greninger also wants to ensure SeaTac uses union contracts whenever possible. If elected, she would expand local initiatives helping women, queer people, and people of color start their own businesses.

Greninger also has the most complete vision for protecting the environment and residents’ well-being. She advocates protecting the North SeaTac Park and preventing it from being developed by the Port of Seattle. Moreover, she would expand farmer’s markets and leverage the recently passed Crisis Care Levy to build behavioral health resources in the city. Finally, Greninger is focused on reducing air traffic noise pollution and aviation emissions. Overall, her policies would lead to a cleaner, healthier, and more sustainable future for SeaTac.

Greninger is challenging incumbent Peter Kwon, who has been a council member since 2016. Kwon was the deputy mayor of SeaTac from 2020 to 2022. Professionally, he is a systems engineer, president of the Asian Pacific American Municipal Officials, and founder of the Neighborhood Locking Mailbox Program. 

Kwon focuses his campaign on his non-partisanship. His main priority during his tenure has been reducing SeaTac’s debt position while trying to not cut services. SeaTac has been successful in this aim as it now has a budget surplus without a reduction in city services. Another priority for Kwon was the adoption of a lockable mailbox program in SeaTac to address rising mail theft. Recently, Kwon has also initiated talks with the Port of Seattle to acquire the 220-acre North SeaTac park.

Unfortunately, Kwon has also been quoted as stating that SeaTac already has "enough" affordable housing, which disregards the pressing need for accessible and affordable housing options in our community. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Kwon voted to ban the effective strategy by King County to convert unused hotels into housing with on-site services within SeaTac, leaving people without shelter in a time of crisis.

Elizabeth Greninger's progressive values and impressive record of community service make her the choice for SeaTac City Council, Position 3.
 

James Lovell is running for SeaTac City Council, Position 5 which is currently held by retiring council member Takele Gobena. Lovell is a human services professional who worked in a number of sectors and boasts ample community leadership experience. He is an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians and has volunteered with the urban Native community in King County. Lovell is also involved with the Highline School District's Native Family Advisory Committee and serves on the King County Children & Youth Advisory Board. He has participated in local community efforts like clean-ups, emergency refugee resettlement support, and more.

Lovell is running on a progressive platform to make the city safe, enjoyable, and accessible to all. One of his top priorities is addressing the housing crisis so that every SeaTac resident has access to a roof over their head and the resources they need. He will do this by providing emergency shelter needs as well as instituting policies to increase housing affordability for everyone. If elected, Lovell also wants to improve local infrastructure like walkways and roads, uplift local small businesses to diversify the economy, and support SeaTac’s immigrant community.

Lovell is running against Brian Millican, who works in case management for an insurance company as well as holding the president role at a local auto repair shop. Millican has only shared a thin platform as of early October that fails to mention any campaign priorities other than supporting business. He does not offer any progressive ideas for SeaTac.

James Lovell is the best choice in this race and deserves your vote for SeaTac City Council, Position 5.
 

Damiana Merryweather is running for SeaTac City Council, Position 7, which is currently held by retiring council member Erin Sitterly. Merryweather works for the Greater Burien Area Urban Farmers Group in administration and is the operations lead and CFO of a local restaurant group. She also serves as a commissioner on the SeaTac Planning Commission.

Merryweather is running to bring her operations leadership, business savvy, and community vision to the school board. If elected, she wants to improve public safety by working with different stakeholders like community organizations, law enforcement, and residents. Merryweather also wants to work on housing affordability, especially for SeaTac’s working families, traffic and speed safety on the roads, and community/airport relations. In this race, Merryweather has earned an impressive list of endorsements including local elected officials, progressive organizations, and some unions.

The other candidate in this race is Joe Vinson, who works as a maintenance manager. Vinson’s top priorities for office include public safety, housing affordability, and climate protection. He wants to bring a combined data-driven and community-focused approach to the council in order to make SeaTac a safe city full of opportunity and unity.

We recommend Damiana Merryweather for Seatac City Council, Position 7 because of her strong endorsements from our partners and other progressive organizations.