Candidates interview for Ferguson’s council seat

State Rep. Cindy Ryu told members of the Metropolitan King County Council that her perspective as a Korean-American woman makes her the best candidate for the council’s vacant seat.

Shoreline City Council member Will Hall touted his experience as a planner, working his day job as a staff analyst in Snohomish County.

And attorney Rod Dembowski said that in addition to his legal background, “I’m easy to get along with. You will like working with me.”

The three finalists advertised their best attributes before the Metropolitan King County Council Wednesday morning in the final phase of the appointment process for the seat vacated by newly elected Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson. Ferguson represented District 1, in northern King County.

The council — officially nonpartisan but made up of four Democrats and four Republicans — plans to appoint one of the three finalists (all Democrats) Feb. 11.

The interviewees gave somewhat predictable answers. All three candidates said they are devoted to working collaboratively in a nonpartisan manner. They all said they are committed to diversity, increasing funding for human services, and improving transit and bus service.

As each completed his or her 30-minute interview, Councilmember Julia Patterson, who was chairing the meeting, declared every candidate “extraordinary.”

Regardless of whom the council chooses, all three candidates intend to run for the seat in 2013.

Seattle Times staff