Edmonds City Council candidate Mackey Guenther is hosting his campaign kickoff event at Edmonds Civic Playfield this Friday, Aug. 25  from 5:30-7 p.m.

A former City of Edmonds Planning Department intern and current college student, Guenther is seeking the Position 4 office now held by Diane Buckshnis, who gave up her seat to run for mayor. A 13-year city council veteran, Buckshnis lost in a four-way primary race for Edmonds mayor.

Guenther’s opponent is retired dentist Michelle Dotsch, who held her campaign kickoff event in late May.

During the Aug. 25 event, Guenther — who grew up in Edmonds and graduated in 2019 from Edmonds-Woodway High School — will speak briefly at 6 p.m., outlining his background, priorities and platform.

In his kickoff announcement, Guenter noted he has been “a student, a landscaper, an alarm-snoozer, a web developer, a son. I stained your neighbor’s fence, I bagged your groceries, and I approved your deck remodel permit on behalf of the city planning department. I’ve seen my fair share of sunsets on Sunset Avenue, and when I was 7, my twin brother kicked our soccer ball into your yard (thanks for tossing it back.) I bought my yoga mat at your yard sale, and I see your parents every weekend at the Farmer’s Market. Add it all up, I know what Edmonds is, and I’ve had the good fortune of knowing many of the people who make this city such an awesome place to live, work, and play.”

Mackey pointed to a need for “practical, informed leadership on housing” and called on the city to develop a “‘starter home toolkit’ – a set of pre-approved architectural designs for human-scale, mixed-used buildings that can be built anywhere in our city, and resound with the character of our community. This toolkit would create new options needed residents who want to welcome more family to their home, or live in a smaller unit, while staying in their neighborhood. It would also increase predictability for everyone involved in building the homes our community needs – which means they’ll really get built when we plan for them.”

He also said it’s key to “make it easier to get around Edmonds, whether you’re driving, walking, biking, or taking transit.” Edmonds needs “sidewalks and paths that are safe and accessible for all: to spend efficiently on our roads, and promote community health, we need to make it easy to get around in ways that are good for people and light on our street maintenance budgets,” he said. “Most importantly, we need to collaborate with modern transit providers to offer faster, cheaper, and more convenient services.”

Finally, Edmonds must make “doing democracy” easier for every resident, “because our democracy is only as effective as the wealth of perspectives it includes,” he said. “To ensure that the things we love about this city will be passed onto our children, we need our decision-makers to correctly represent the needs and desires of our whole community – at the city, neighborhood and even street level. There’s no drama around the tools we need: statistically representative surveys, citizen-led processes, and digital consensus platforms that allow us to get a better pulse of the city.

“As someone who’s worked on public engagement across the city,” he said, adding “I know first-hand the challenges of collecting and condensing input. We need to use better tools – tools that accurately capture the true diversity of opinion in our neighborhoods, and lead us towards the consensus that so often lies dormant beneath layers of argumentative rubble.”

We need neighborhoods that are affordable at any income, whether you just started your first real job, or are moving in to get close with the grandkids. We need streets that are safe and comfortable, and a city to match. We need the leadership and political will to do better by our residents, by making smart investments in tools that let our voices to be heard in higher resolution. And we need to acknowledge our local history of racial discrimination in property ownership, and earnestly continue the work of reconnecting our communities where lines were once drawn.

“On council, I’m committed to building a city where anyone – teachers, parents, immigrants, nurses, students, entrepreneurs, retirees – can build a good life, of comfort, dignity and security,” he said. “This ‘Edmonds dream’ is what our city originally promised to many of those who moved here 30 years ago. I believe it should be available to the residents of our future, and I’m running to make sure it sticks around.”

Learn more about the candidate at MackeyForEdmonds.org.