EDITOR’S NOTE: David Faber’s date of graduation from Port Townsend High School and a statement on the age of local public officials misattributed to Faber have been corrected in this report.
PORT TOWNSEND — Deputy Mayor Kris Nelson will not seek another term on the City Council.
Her announcement Monday closely followed that of Mayor David King on Friday that he will not run for re-election for his seat, Position 6.
Terms for both expire at the end of this year.
The candidate filing period is May 11-15 for the August primary election and November general election.
Nelson, who has been on the council since 2008, said she wants to devote more attention to her business interests.
She owns and operates two Port Townsend restaurants, Sirens and Alchemy Bistro, and is exploring other business options.
Nelson said she supports the candidacy of David Faber, 32, a Port Townsend native who is half of a law partnership that opened in February 2014, for her position, Position 7.
“I am a young professional and plan to live and work here for some time,” Faber said.
“One of the reasons I’m running is because there is a need for people who are planning to live here for years to come to be involved in public policy and actually have their hand on the rudder to move the ship forward,” Faber said.
Nelson said she decided not to seek another term about a year ago but wanted to find someone to take her place who was connected to the business community.
“There are a lot of things that you do operating a small business, and it’s important to have people on the council who have firsthand experience with this,” she said.
Nelson approached Faber, who worked for her at Sirens and the Fountain Cafe, which she previously owned, and had returned to town after working as an attorney elsewhere.
“I couldn’t be happier,” Nelson said. “David is a great candidate.”
Nelson said she may run again for the council in the future and would continue some involvement in public life, although not as an elected official for now.
Nelson was appointed to the council in 2008 after the resignation of Brent Butler, running to fill the unexpired term in 2009 and for her own four-year term in 2011.
King was elected in 2007 and 2011.
Neither candidate faced opposition in any of their elections.
The seven-member council is elected in odd-numbered years.
Bob Gray and Deborah Stinson, both first elected in 2011, both announced recently plans to seek second terms.
Other council members, last elected in 2013, are Pamela Adams, Catharine Robinson and Michelle Sandoval.
All council positions are elected at-large.
If elected Faber would buck the trend of local officials, most of whom qualify as senior citizens.
He said people his age aren’t generally drawn to public service because “my generation never has gotten that involved in public life as well as their involvement in working and raising families.”
Faber said he will attempt to tap the younger, less active voter base but doesn’t plan to base the campaign around his age.
“There are young people in this community who do feel marginalized and would like to see someone young running,” he said.
“I do hope to give some voice to the young people in Port Townsend. They need to have someone looking out for what their concerns are.”
As an example, Faber mentioned Jack Range, who ran against Stinson in 2011 when he was 25 and lost by just 20 votes.
Faber graduated from Port Townsend High School in 2001 and attended Evergreen College before returning to Port Townsend for a few years.
He earned his law degree at Seattle University and practiced in Yakima for a few years before recruiting Sam Feinson, a law school friend, to open a partnership in Port Townsend.
The firm, Faber Feinson PLLC, is located at 210 Polk St.
Faber is married to Laura Wester Faber, a local preschool administrator whom he had dated since high school. The couple have no children.
Faber said he has attended “a few” City Council meetings and has plans to attend them regularly in the future, as long as they don’t conflict with meetings of the Boiler Room board, of which he is a member.
“I want to maintain an understanding of what is going on now so come January, I’ll have an understanding of what was done up to that time,” he said.
Faber said his work as an attorney prepares him for work on the council “because I’m good at reading and analyzing stacks of boring documents.”
“That will help,” Nelson said.
“You need to do a lot of reading.”
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
