City of Monroe

Megan Dunn, the program director for the Northwest Center for Alternatives to Pesticides, is running for re-election to the Snohomish County Council in District 2. Prior to being elected to the council in 2019, Dunn led the successful effort to improve representation on the Everett City Council by creating local districts and served on the Everett Community Streets Initiative Task Force, which helps address homelessness in downtown Everett.

Dunn ran for Snohomish County Council in 2019 to continue her work on community-building and environmental sustainability. She's met her campaign promises by using pandemic recovery funding for district organizations that are committed to helping neighbors, including the Interfaith Family Shelter, Everett Recovery Café, and Madres de Casino Road's meal program.

She's focused on voting for policies that would best uplift people experiencing homelessness and poverty. Dunn was one of three council members who voted to convert two hotels into low-barrier shelters for people experiencing homelessness. She correctly noted that putting up barriers like drug testing would have put 20 million federal dollars at risk of being lost and likely prevented the shelter from being built. 

Dunn faces a challenge from Georgia Fisher. a precinct committee officer for the Snohomish County Republican Party and district chair for the 21st Legislative District Republicans. In addressing the opioid and drug epidemic, she wants to see more people arrested for addiction, sending more people in crisis to jail. Much of her campaign platform follows a familiar path for conservatives this year, with promises to support business and pour even more funds into militarized police. For reference, the county already spends over 75 percent of its $288.5 million general budget on police and the criminal legal system. 

If elected, Dunn will continue to advocate for those who need it most in the country. She is by far the best choice for the Snohomish County Council in District 2. 
 

State House Rep. Strom Peterson was appointed to the Snohomish County Council last year. He is now running unopposed to retain his county council seat. In less than a year on the council, Peterson has joined his colleagues to bolster rental assistance funding and secure funds for Civic Park. As a member of the council's Housing Affordability Regional Task Force (HART), he has also worked to make low-barrier shelters available to help people struggling with homelessness.

Peterson enters election season with a large slate of endorsements from progressive and Democratic leaders from state, local, and county governments. Peterson has earned your vote for Snohomish County Council representing District 3. 
 

Progressive Melanie Lockhart is challenging the incumbent Heather Fulcher for Monroe City Council, Position 4. Lockhart currently serves on the Monroe Planning Commission and on the board of Take the Next Step, a Christian nonprofit that serves homeless and low-income residents.

As a parent of three young kids, she has also been an advocate for our students. She spoke out against racism and harassment after several hate incidents made headlines in recent years. She also is the chairperson for Citizens of Monroe Schools, where she advocates for the levies and bonds that fund educators, transportation, and special education programs for our schools.

Lockhart is running to make Monroe a truly welcoming city for residents of all races, incomes, and backgrounds. She would change zoning, seek funding, and work with developers to create long-term attainable housing for the next generation. She would make downtown more safe and walkable, and make business applications more language-accessible and affordable for new small business-owners. She says her degree in journalism has also prepared her to communicate and be responsive to Monroe's diverse population.

Her opponent is incumbent Heather Fulcher, who has served on the Monroe City Council since 2020. She has served on the Planning Commission, Economic Development Advisory Board, and Housing Affordability Taskforce for the county. Most of her work experience is in retail - she is the owner of Monroe Coffee Co., and has managed her family's bookstore.

Fulcher has very little public information about her political stances and platform for re-election. However, her Facebook has many posts where she celebrates police sweeps of encampments, which we know are inhumane and ineffective. She also thinks the city should prosecute people for "smaller amounts of drugs," indicating that she supports the "tough on crime" laws that have led to the mass incarceration of low-income and BIPOC communities.

Monroe locals have reported that Fulcher was dismissive of commonsense masking protocols at her coffeeshop during the height of the pandemic, and her campaign is supported by several Republican elected officials.

Lockhart would bring a fresh, progressive voice to the Monroe City Council. She deserves your vote for position 4.

Junelle Lewis is running for Monroe City Council, Position 5 to make Monroe a more inclusive and welcoming place. Lewis has worked as a case manager for Snohomish County, an office manager at Maltby Elementary, and a family support specialist with Everett Public Schools. She also serves on the Monroe Planning Commission and on the board of Take the First Step, which serves low-income community members and people facing homelessness.

Lewis' top priority is making housing more affordable, as Monroe's population has doubled since 2000. She wants to build more multifamily, affordable homes, enact protections for tenants, and provide assistance for people who are unhoused. Lewis is also passionate about empowering small business owners, as she and her husband own a local food truck. If elected, she would create mentorship programs for new business owners and make business processes more accessible.

As a member of the Monroe Equity Council and the chair of the Juneteenth Committee, Lewis has organized marches and events for the Black community to celebrate and educate. As a parent of eight children in the public school system, Lewis has also been an outspoken advocate for racial justice in our schools. After several hate crimes and reports of racism in Monroe schools made headlines, Lewis and her children testified to the school board to call for change. If elected, she would go out into neighborhoods and host town halls to engage more directly with communities.

Lewis is running against Republican Jacob Walker, an insurance broker and planning commissioner who has previously run twice before and lost each time.

Walker's top priority is to preserve the "small-town feel" he remembers from his childhood in Monroe, which doesn't reflect the city's rapid growth. Unlike Lewis, he opposes policy changes that would make housing more affordable in Monroe. Without these long overdue reforms, spiraling housing costs will continue to displace our seniors and prevent young people from buying their first homes. Walker is endorsed by many Republican electeds because of his conservative platform.

Lewis is by far the most progressive choice for Monroe City Council and deserves your vote for Position 5.

Melanie Ryan is a progressive advocate who is challenging incumbent Chuck Whitfield to represent District 2 on the Monroe School Board. Ryan has worked as a school social worker and an advocate for foster students while earning her master's in social work. She then moved into the private sector, where she got experience managing large budgets and projects for Microsoft Education. Now, she is a certified diversity coach, the founder of a nonprofit that fosters pets for low-income families, and an advocate with numerous social justice organizations like the Monroe Equity Council.

Monroe has faced challenges with school environment in recent years - several hate crimes made headlines, and many students stepped up to share their struggles with homophobic and racist slurs, bullying, and violence. Superintendent Justin Blasko resigned after he mishandled these racist incidents and was found to have created a toxic workplace himself.

Through her role as board president of the Monroe Equity Council, Ryan helped organize families of color to share their experiences and hold the superintendent accountable. If elected, she would fight for more consistent training for staff on how to handle bigotry in schools, create more accountability measures for leaders, and hire staff to coordinate diversity and inclusion efforts across the district.

Notably, the incumbent Chuck Whitfield voted against basic inclusivity trainings for staff, and continued to support Superintendent Blasko even after credible reports of his sexism and inappropriate behavior. Whitfield is an Army veteran and the owner of a vehicle-licensing agency. His platform centers around making a strategic plan and improving test scores, but lacks concrete ways he will support students and teachers. His statements on student safety focus on his fears about drugs and alcohol, but fail to acknowledge the racism that has led several students of color to leave school. Whitfield is supported by several Republican elected officials, and the teachers' union has endorsed Ryan.

Ryan would focus on improving students' academics by creating a more welcoming culture, investing in resources to keep quality teachers, and engaging families in kids' education. She also is passionate about fully funding support for multi-language learners and special education, which became a priority after her conversations with educators. Ryan also wants to elevate the student voice by including student representatives on the board to inform their strategic plan.

Ryan has one of the most impressive and detailed platforms that we have seen in all school board races this year. Her dedication to racial justice and her extensive experience advocating for students make her by far the best choice in this race.