Via The Olympian
The Olympia City Council has selected Kelly Green to fill the vacancy left by Lisa Parshley after she was elected to the State House of Representatives.
Green, who is the Vice President for Advancement at South Puget Sound Community College, took her official oath of office with a city clerk on Jan. 14, and she was later sworn in by her daughter at a council meeting.
Green said during the meeting she wanted to express her gratitude to all who supported her through the decision to apply for Position 5 council seat.
“I think being part of this body, we’re going to be able to do a lot of great work for the city,” Green said. “And I’m just so thankful. And I also just want to give a shout out to my family, who came out in force tonight and have just been nothing but supportive and excited for me on this journey.”
There were 24 applicants and eight finalists were interviewed in a panel format. Seven of the candidates confirmed their interest to proceed: Kelly Green, Bridgette Valdez-Kogle, Daniel Garcia, Isaac Wagnitz, Jennifer Reidmayer, Tanzania Zensali-Marshall, and Zachary Lynch.
Green’s application says she’s lived in Olympia for seven years. She has worked for SPSCC since 2012, first as a confidential secretary with the SPSCC Foundation, then as the assistant director of event management. She was the executive community relations officer from 2015 to 2023 and is now the college’s Vice President for Advancement.
She is also an executive committee member for the Leadership Thurston County Board of Regents, and a board member for the Thurston County Chamber of Commerce Board of Trustees.
Priorities
Green said in her application her top three priorities as a council member are the same as the council’s current priorities: addressing the budget deficits, making progress on affordable housing and homelessness, and completing the city’s Comprehensive Plan update.
“The council and city staff have done significant planning and research on all of these topics and I will bring important skills to the council that will help advance this work,” she said.
Green said she has experience doing work throughout the community and across multiple jurisdictions, and she thinks the answer to most problems lies in partnership and collaboration.
“Olympia has been a leader in its attempts to combat issues like affordable housing, and together we will make more progress when we find paths to unified regional efforts,” she said.
Green said she has experience working and leading in a lean budget environment, particularly one with limited revenue-generating opportunities.
“I will excel at helping Olympia keep key initiatives moving forward while supporting a balance between council goals and priorities with the realities of budget and staff capabilities,” she said.
Council comment
Mayor Pro Tem Yến Huỳnh said the council had a robust application pool, and it wasn’t an easy choice. She said Green’s application showed she had done her homework for the job.
“It was clear that you had gone through some of the city’s major plans, and really, really thought about this one-year appointment and what value it could provide,” she said.
Council member Dani Madrone said Green will be working with the council while finalizing the update to the city’s Comprehensive Plan, and during a tough budget cycle. She said Green stood out in her interview as somebody who was ready to get started the next day.
Mayor Dontae Payne welcomed Green to the Olympia City Council and said it’s clear she cares about the city. “I think that it’s evident that you live, work and play here, which I think is very important, in addition to your professional experience to serve here on council,” she said. “Your family’s here. You even had a showing last night for your interview process. So it just says a lot about who you are, who your family is, that they’re here to support you.
“I’m really looking forward to getting to know you more and also seeing how you come into this role and what you’ll bring to it.”