Pepper Fisher
(This story has been edited to reflect the news that candidates David Herbelin and Joshua Washburn have been determined by the City Clerk to live outside Sequim city limits are therefore not qualified to run for City Council.)
SEQUIM – The Sequim City Council will have their work cut out for them choosing from a tough field of 6 candidates vying to fill the Council seat left vacant when Troy Tenneson resigned this summer.
We’ve obtained the applications submitted by each and will review them in alphabetical order.
Janine Bocciardi is a database engineer and analyst consultant in the field of education, currently working for the University of Hawaii from her home in Sequim, where she’s lived for over 5 years. She says her priorities as a councilmember would be to clarify municipal regulations and be prepared to explain them to her constituents when called upon. Bocciardi also wants to support schools using her expertise as a data analyst to assist in getting more students through high school successfully and into college. She says the council would be more representative of the population if it had more women.
Kathy Downer is a retired nurse of 43 years and has lived in Sequim for a little over a year. Until recently she served on the City Council of Marietta, Ohio, a town of 14,000 people. Downer is a member of the Sequim City Planning Commission. Priorities would include encouraging light manufacturing businesses to come to Sequim while continuing the Council’s support of existing local businesses. Downer is dedicated to creating more workforce housing in Sequim, and says she’s in favor of setting aside short-term parking for RVs so visitors don’t take up other parking spaces.
Keith Larkin is a retired firefighter who’s resume includes Fire Chief and Executive Management in fire districts in Fresno County and Sacramento County in California. He has lived in Sequim for about 2 years. Larkin believes the rapid growth in and around Sequim make this a crucial time for good, collaborative decision-making that will have long-term consequences, but says he does not have a specific agenda or accomplishment he wishes to achieve as a councilmember.
Vicki Lowe is the Executive Director of the American Indian Health Commission for Washington State. She has lived in Sequim for 50 years and traces her lineage through local pioneer families and the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe. Lowe believes her 24 years of experience in the fields of health and human services will be an asset to the Council. She wants to balance what she sees as an increasing dependence on seasonal tourism by attracting businesses that have year-round, consistent and stable sources of revenue. Housing issues and completing sidewalk projects are also priorities.
George Norris is an Army Veteran. A graduate of West Point, he served as a Field Artillery Officer in the 70s and 80s, and then became a Scientific and Technical Intelligence Analyst. He and his wife have lived in Sequim since 2017, and actively involved with the local Senior Center, Audubon Center, Friends of the Library and the Museum and Arts Center. He wants to help Sequim promote itself as a tourist destination while minimizing the stress that tourism can put on the City and its natural resources.
Lowell Rathbun is a retired Radio Frequency Design Engineer with a patent in microwave frequency synthesis. He has lived in Sequim for nearly 3 years, having moved here after retiring at Tektronix, Inc. in Beaverton, Oregon. He served on the Executive Board of the National Alliance on Mental Illness and as a Trustee of the Clallam County Democrats. He believes the City Council needs more balance politically. Priorities include doing more to help individuals and families struggling financially with Covid-19 issues, and making progress on the issues of affordable housing, mental illness, and addiction among our residents.