Meet the Candidate: LFP City Council Pos. 3 - Josh Rosenau

Josh Rosenau

Josh For LFP: Building Community

My name is Josh Rosenau and I'm running for city council in Lake Forest Park.

Since announcing my candidacy in May, I've knocked thousands of doors, and had conversations with neighbors in every corner of the city. I want to bring those conversations with me to City Hall.

On doorsteps, I pledge to make more of the third places that make LFP awesome. On our parks board I've helped create events we all enjoy, maintain our existing parks, and design a new lakefront park that serves everyone. We need more spaces like that across the city. Neighbors should be able to start cafes or grocery stores in their garages, or to work together to narrow their roads with flowerpots, making room for benches, soccer nets, and walking paths protected from cars.

When we design for cars, we get traffic; when we design for people, we get community. That basic insight drives my thinking about our city's future, and it connects us to our past. Ole Hanson's 1912 pamphlet announcing our community promised "numerous playgrounds…for the amusement of the little ones, and little parks at the intersection of the boulevards." He didn't build them, but we can today!

At a recent candidate forum, the incumbent I'm challenging explained he opposes adding these third spaces for fear of unspecified "unintended consequences." But we should not sacrifice safety, happiness, and community — the intended consequences of these policies – for the sake of vague fears. We need bold solutions to turn neighborhoods into true communities, calm traffic on our roads, help Town Center fulfill its potential, and ensure that our kids have homes to move back to and our elders can downsize without being forced to leave our community. I know LFP and believe in my neighbors and our ability to find the right solutions together.

As a nonprofit leader and conservation biologist, I've tackled big issues like climate change and salmon conservation by building consensus and community, and have the skills and partners to move our city forward, within our tight budget. I'm proud to be endorsed by our local Democratic Party, Shoreline Firefighters, Climate Cabinet, Washington Bikes, Transportation for Washington, Affordable Housing Council, Planned Parenthood, FairVote, Humane Voters of Washington, and many other expert bodies that support my vision and will help LFP implement it. I'm also honored by the support of leaders in town and beyond: State Senators Stanford and Salomon, State Representatives Duerr, Kloba, and Farivar, former Mayor Dave Hutchinson, Deputy Mayor Furutani, Councilmembers Goldman and Riddle, the mayors of Shoreline, Kenmore, Bothell, and Woodinville, and many others. A full list is at JoshForLFP.com.

We can take bold action to build a brighter, safer, and more resilient future for our community. We can confront challenges global, national, and local. We will do so with bold and progressive policy, and by broadening our community conversations to include voices that are too often left out. I would be honored to have your vote and to represent your voice on our city council.

Josh Rosenau
Josh for LFP • https://joshforlfp.com • 425-405-5536