COMMISSION BACKGROUND
The Citizens' Housing Commission
The Edmonds Citizens’ Housing Commission was established via Council Resolution 1427 to “Develop, for Council consideration, diverse housing policy options designed to expand the range of housing (including rental and owned) available in Edmonds — irrespective of age, gender, race, religious affiliation, physical disability, or sexual orientation.”
Commission Members
The Commission is made up of Edmonds residents from across the city, reflecting different backgrounds and perspectives. There are 15 Commissioners and 8 alternates. For the appointment process, the City was divided into 7 districts based on U.S. Census areas. Each Council member was assigned a district and appointed 2 Commissioners and 1 alternate. The Mayor appointed 1 ‘at-large’ Commissioner and 1 alternate.
Commissioners
James Ogonowski
Karen Haase Herrick
Weijia Wu
Keith Soltner
George Keefe
John Reed (dec.)
Nichole Franko
Mike McMurray
Tanya Kataria
Greg Long
Jess Blanch
Alena Nelson-Vietmeier
Judi Gladstone
Will Chen
Bob Throndsen
Alternates
Leif Warren
Wendy Wyatt
Eva-Denise Miller
Kenneth Sund
Shirley Havenga
Rick Nishino
Jean Salls
Tana Axtelle
Click on map to enlarge
Commission Timeline
The Commission commenced in September 2019 and meets on the 2nd Thursday of each month. Meetings are live streamed and recorded on the City of Edmonds webpage. Over the last 10 months the Commission has been learning about housing-related issues and policies, hearing from community members about their housing priorities and concerns, and working in policy committees to explore initial policy ideas.
Now, the policy committees have developed their first set of ideas and are looking for your input! The Commission will share a second set of policy ideas for your consideration later this summer.
Once all policy ideas have gone through the public engagement process, the Commission will begin deciding which ideas to move forward into draft policy proposals. The Commission will continue to seek your feedback before making a final set of policy recommendations to City Council by December 29, 2020.