Ballard resident Jessie Israel is running for Seattle City Council to be the voice of Seattle-ites under 40 and a representative of other Ballard residents. She is looking to fill council position six, currently held by Nick Licata.

Israel said that people under the age of 40 are a majority of the local population.

“They’re drivers and the ones who are operating on you, your children, flying your planes, investing your money and the ones who are running companies that are inventing the most innovative products,” said Israel. “But they are underrepresented on the council right now.”

Israel said she hopes her experience as enterprise manager of King County Parks will give her the opportunity to bring in business revenue for the city if voted in for the position.

“Part of the reason I’m running is that I see our city is at a critical point, where we’re either going to grow in a good way that maintains integrity or we’re going to make some poor choices,” Israel said.

Israel said there are many issues such as neighborhood safety, infrastructure, keeping neighborhoods and neighborhood businesses strong that need to be improved in Seattle.

“My priority is economic vitality, wanting to make sure we keep jobs here and keeping the economy strong because without that everything else kind of cascades,” Israel said.

Israel has assisted in reinventing how county parks are run. Her changes allow parks to generate non-tax revenue and ensure green space remains open during tight economic times. She serves on the parks management team which has an operating revenue of $20 million and more than 150 permanent employees.

“When you’re trying to bring in revenue in parks you’re walking a fine line, which will bring revenue and bring together community,” she said.

By being on the Seattle City Council, Israel said she would try to think of the same things, bringing in revenue, negotiating partnership and coming up with ideas that keep government services strong.

Israel said she applauds incumbent councilmember Nick Licata for serving the council for the past 12 years, she said he has served with a huge amount of integrity but she wants to bring a fresh new voice to the council that is currently not represented.

Licata is currently in the fourth year of his third term and said he will be waiting until March to decide if he will run again.

“I feel I’m weighing my options,” Licata said. “I want to see a better understanding of problems the city is facing so I can better tackle them. I don’t see long campaigns as being useful and the timing (in March) is pretty good to do it then.”

For more information on Jessie Israel visit www.jessieisrael.com.