Over the course of my 40 years living, operating a small business and serving in Kirkland I have been so impressed by the culture of community and inclusion that exists in our city. Volunteerism and pulling together to make things happen comes naturally to Kirklanders and it has been a privilege and an honor to serve for the last 16 years on our City Council, five of them as Mayor.
Identifying the individual who will take my seat is very important to me. I was honored to take MaryAlyce Burleigh’s seat in 2010 and believe I have upheld the high expectations and standard of performance she set before me. A large part of being able to serve the city and each of you is to do so with the utmost integrity, commitment, and courage.
Shilpa Prem is someone I believe who meets that bar. She was appointed as an alternative to our Human Services Commission this year with overwhelming support. Her resume and performance demonstrate she has the training and skills to take on the challenges facing our town.
Prem is strongly committed, with a profound sense of civic responsibility. She demonstrates astute intelligence and pragmatic good sense. Her caring, empathetic style of listening and expressing herself is connective and effective. Shilpa will be a councilmember who will work collaboratively within the council to serve the citizens of Kirkland.
Her community commitment includes work with Washington Ceasefire around the prevention of gun violence in schools to help ensure our children are safe. This included a proposal to Lake Washington High School to implement an a-political, health-focused course for high school children on ways to prevent gun violence in schools. Previously she volunteered her services representing children suffering from child abuse and neglect in court and with parallel volunteer assistance with peer attorneys and mental health specialists for troubled parents dealing with drug abuse, healing, and rehab to allow reunification of healthy families.
As a seasoned lawyer and expert in areas like health products, medical devices, and pharmaceuticals she had advised corporate leaders in companies across the country and most recently as Senior Corporate Counsel at Amazon.
These are challenging times for cities, and for government in general, driven by issues like homelessness, insufficient mental healthcare, the lack of attainable housing, economic uncertainty, and inadequate transportation systems and transit. There are no easy fixes to any of it.
Making our way through as healthy sustainable cities is going to take an enormous amount of work, collaboration and tough decision making. I believe that Shilpa Prem has the skills and desire to do that most effectively for Kirkland. I encourage you to join me in voting for Shilpa Prem for Kirkland City Council Position 3. Thank You.
Sincerely,
Penny Sweet, Councilmember and Former Mayor of Kirkland.
Editor’s note: Like former Mayor Sweet, The Urbanist Elections Committee has endorsed Shilpa Prem for Kirkland City Council Position 3.
Penny Sweet
Penny Sweet began her first term on the Kirkland City Council in January 2010. She served as Deputy Mayor from 2010-2011, and 2014-2015. The Kirkland City Council selected Councilmember Penny Sweet to serve as Mayor for the remainder of 2019, and again in 2021-2023. She has lived in Kirkland since 1985 and served as the Chair of the Market Neighborhood Association from 2007–2009.
