Bellevue Councilwoman Jennifer Robertson Kicks Off Campaign, Leads in Contributions

Bellevue Councilwoman Jennifer Robertson kicked off her bid for re-election this week.

"I consider it an honor to serve the people of our great city. I have a deep passion for strong neighborhoods, fiscal responsibility and forward-thinking land use policies," said Robertson in a prepared statement. "I'm proud of this wonderful city and of the strong fiscal foundation we've built over the years. I want to make sure that this foundation is kept in place during these challenging economic times so that Bellevue can continue to be a great place to live, work and raise a family."

Robertson has held Bellevue City Council Position 7 since 2009, when she was chosen to fill the term Councilman Phil Noble, who died in office.

Robertson's appointment came after serving six years on the Bellevue Planning Commission and serving as co-chair of the Light Rail Best Practices Committee.

As a member of the Bellevue City Council, Robertson holds positions on the King County Growth Management Planning Council, the Puget Sound Regional Council Growth Management Planning Board and the Transportation Policy Board Prioritization Working Group. She is also City Council Liaison to the Parks Board, Library Board, Bellevue School Board and I-90/Eastgate Citizen's Advisory Committee. Additionally, she served the Bellevue School Board as a member of the Fiscal Advisory Committee in 2010.

"I've been fortunate to work with other elected leaders on regional land use and transportation planning," she said in a prepared statement. "Maintaining Bellevue's regional presence is vital to increasing our share of regional transportation funding."

Robertson is a life-long Eastside resident who moved to Bellevue in 2002, according to her official biography. She is a land use and municipal attorney who specializes in representing small cities and towns.

Among her civic positions, she also is on the Bellevue Philharmonic Board of Directors; has been a Girl Scout Volunteer for seven years, including four years as a cookie manager and two years as a regional coordinator for "cookies for soldiers;" served on the Somerset Elementary PTSA Board as the Legislative Affairs/Advocacy Chair; volunteers for her community association since 2002; and has been an active Bellevue Schools volunteer since 2003.

Robertson also is an active member of St. Margaret's Episcopal Church in Factoria where she and her husband spearheaded an affordable housing project on church property to build housing for homeless veterans. This project, known as "Andrew's Glen" is scheduled to open later this year.

According to the state's Public Disclosure Commission, Robertson has accumulated more than $38,000 in campaign contributions in the past five months. Contributors include Bellevue Firefighters, the Seattle-King County Association of Realtors and Building Owners and Managers Association and locally elected officials including King County Councilmembers Reagan Dunn, Jane Hague, and Kathy Lambert, Bellevue's Mayor Don Davidson, and members of the State Senate Steve Litzow, Joe Fain, and Andy Hill.

Robertson and her husband Scott live in the Somerset neighborhood and have three school-aged children, Kate, Maddy and Abby.

Her website is at http://www.robertsonforcouncil.com/

Robertson's seat is one of four that are up for election later this year. Also up for election are council members Grant Degginger (Position 1), John Chelminiak (Position 3) and Claudia Balducci (Position 5). All have active campaigns for re-elections to their seats, according to the state's Public Disclosure Commission. Two others, Patricia L. Mann and Aaron M. Laing, also have opened campaigns for a city council seat, though they have not declared which seats they are running for.

So far, Robertson has raised the most money of all the candidates for Bellevue City Council, according to the state Public Disclosure Commission, raising $38,500 since September.

The city council positions are all city-wide positions. The candidates officially declare which seat they are running for during filing week in June, though incumbents generally run for their own seats.

City council members are paid $1,650 a month.

PDC Details

-- Chart information from the Washington Public Disclosure Commission