Editor:
As a result of the election of Mike Nelson as mayor for the City of Edmonds, the council must now fill the vacancy of position #2. There is one person who would, in our opinion, be a perfect complement to the other six Council members.
We are writing in support of Nathan Monroe to fill the vacancy for that position.
We have the privilege of having Nate and his wife Jordan as our next-door neighbors and have gotten to know them quite well as wonderful people.
Nate Monroe would be the ideal addition to the Edmonds City Council. He is a lifelong resident of Edmonds and is intimately aware of what makes our city both unique and great.
Nate has an MBA in civil engineering and in his professional life works for Sound Transit. He is currently in charge of a $1.3 billion project, which is on time and under budget.
Nate has served for five years on the Edmonds Planning Board (chair 2018). He has a record of working with the city staff, city leaders and engaging with Edmonds citizens. This experience is especially important as the council will soon be addressing the redevelopment of Highway 99 and considering solutions to our railroad crossing and waterfront protection.
In Nate’s recent bid for position #7 on the City Council, he received more votes than any of the other non-elected candidates (6,929).
Nathan Monroe is a proven leader who works well with others. We believe he is the best person for the job and, along with nearly 7,000 Edmonds voters, we urge you to select Nathan Monroe to fill the vacancy on the Edmonds City Council.
Sincerely,
Dick Van Hollebeke, former Edmonds City Councilman
and Monda Van Hollebeke
Edmonds
Dick and Monda, thanks for this valuable information about your neighbor, Mr. Monroe. After watching the re-run of that last city council meeting with some members openly airing their grievances against each other at what is supposed to be the city’s most important business meeting of the week , I think it is imperative that we get as many adults in the room as we can. I would so like to see our city go to a district concept for electing our representatives and I think your letter is a great example of how that might be beneficial. Here is a guy you know personally who doesn’t live on the other side of town somewhere, where the problems or perceived problems might be totally different than what is on your mind. Everyone in town would have at least one obvious person to talk to almost anytime without having to obey the 3 minute rule at the council meetings where someone is making jokes about him/her keeping it brief. What better way to know exactly what is on the minds of the folks living in the Hwy 99 development area than to have a council member answering directly to them? We already have the possible districts set up with the new housing commission.
We have a short history living in Edmonds, but I lived in Seattle for 73 years.
With the growth of Seattle came a disconnect with the neighborhood communities. Early last year I started attending Edmond city council meetings and discovered that while pertinent issues were reviewed prior to the meetings, the clarity required to define solutions were addressed in closed doors.
I hope that the endorsement of Nathan Moore by his neighbor means that Mr. Moore has the time available (with his other obligations) to participate. With new members and experienced members and filming of the city council meetings available to interested citizens; the focus will provide the best solutions for the people of the Edmonds’ community in a productive process( with consideration to the budget available).
Thank you and others for your personal input to various candidates for the open position.