Rebecca Thornton selected to fill vacant Lynnwood City Council seat

This article has been updated with a summary of the council’s ranked-choice voting to appoint the new councilmember.

The Lynnwood City Council on Thursday night selected Rebecca Thornton to fill the Position 5 council seat vacated when Councilmember Julieta Altamirano Crosby resigned in January. 

During the final rounds of council votes, Thornton was tied with Robert Leutwyler. After returning from an executive session to discuss the tie, the council unanimously voted to appoint Thornton to the position. 

There were originally 19 applicants, and the council narrowed the list to eight. Seven applicants moved on to the interview portion on Tuesday, minus Audrey Tanberg, who removed her name from the list and was not interviewed.

Thornton is set to be sworn in to the council position during the Feb. 24 meeting. 

Thornton was among the seven remaining applicants that included, in addition to Leutwyler, the following;

• Forrest Baum
• Chelsea Wright 
• Jessica Roberts 
• Nazanin Lashgari
• Marie MacCoy

Thornton was born in Washington, but has lived in Lynnwood since 2019. She and her partner moved here after purchasing a foreclosed house as it was one of the only homes they could afford at the time, she told the council Tuesday. Although she has only lived in Lynnwood for a few years, she has lived in the north Seattle area since 2002.

She serves as an assistant director at the University of Washington’s Consulting and Business Development Center. She also received a Master’s of Business Administration from UW. Thornton is also involved in her neighborhood organizations. 

In her application for the council position, she described herself as an active member of the community. She organized her neighborhood’s National Night Out event and has participated in local events, such as the Fair on 44th, and regularly visits the Lynnwood Recreation Center. 

In her role at UW, Thornton said she works with small businesses owned by women, minorities, veterans and members of the LGBTQ+ community and other groups to help them “grow and thrive,” according to her application. Thornton said she increased contracting opportunities for underrepresented businesses by 25% and organized events that raised over $150,000 to support local businesses.

Below is a summary of Thornton’s interview with the council on Tuesday. 

Council President Nick Coelho: “People running for Lynnwood City Council often remark that they want to protect the character of this city. In your own words, how would you describe Lynwood’s character, and what is most worth protecting about it?”

Having lived in the area for over 20 years, Thornton said she’s watched Lynnwood grow into a destination. Between transit options and the thriving local economy, Lynnwood is a city where people not only want to live, but a place where people like to gather. Between the recreation center, the convention center, the mall and other amenities, Lynnwood is a place where people can go to find community, she said. 

Council Vice President Josh Binda: “I would like to ask you if you’ve had any communications at all with fellow council members regarding this vacancy, or if you’ve had any prior relationships with any council members prior to this vacancy in any capacity?” 

Thornton said she hasn’t had any interactions with councilmembers, aside from Binda who knocked on her door while campaigning in 2020. She said that his dedication to meeting residents where they are is one of the things that helped her feel welcome in Lynnwood when she first moved here. 

Councilmember Patrick Decker: “What will your approach be to managing the extensive fiscal needs of a growing city like Lynnwood without increasing already burdensome taxes on the residents?” 

Thornton acknowledges that she isn’t a data expert, but she said her experience managing savings accounts, endowments and fiscal budgets at UW’s Business Development Center gives her the skillset needed to oversee the city’s financial matters. 

She said she is interested in doing a deep dive on the city’s budget to ensure the city is providing accurate data on its financial situation and running things as efficiently as possible. 

“Taxes aren’t fun,” she said. “But unfortunately we all sign a social contract to be part of a community and to be part of a city. I believe that sometimes you do have to tax your citizens, but it should be a last resort.” 

Councilmember Derica Escamilla: “Have you watched or attended any council meetings in the last month? What were your primary thoughts? 

Thornton said this is her first council meeting, and that she hasn’t attended any in the past. However, said she’s looking forward to getting more involved with the city in the future. 

Councilmember George Hurst: “Once you’re on the city council, you become a public official. Residents will approach you at any time, at events, in the grocery store or on the street and tell you that you’re doing good work on the council or that you’re doing a bad job. The news media is free to write about almost any aspect of your life, personal or public. The city council has even had threats of burning down their homes. Are you prepared for that type of engagement if you’re appointed as a councilmember and if you choose to run for this office in November?”

“I don’t think anybody is prepared for threats that their house is going to be burned down,” Thornton said. “In terms of having my whole life open to the world, it’s uncomfortable, but I really do want to help others. I really want to build community, whether it’s like Josh going door-to-door, which is kind of scary, too, but it’s worth it. It’s necessary and it’s a part of democracy, and I’m very passionate about that.”

If needed, she said she would prepare herself and her family to deal with the responsibility that comes with being a public official. 

Councilmember David Parshall: “How would you have voted on the 2025 property tax levy? 

Thornton said she would have voted to support the levy. 

“I believe that Lynnwood did its best to help citizens when we were in need, especially during the pandemic,” she said. “We all knew that the shoe would come down.” 

She said she believes tax increases are better in increments rather than raising the rate at a significant amount all at once. 

A recording of the meeting can be found on the city’s website.

Vote counts

The council used ranked-choice voting to select a new councilmember. In the preliminary vote, each individual councilmember ranked the candidates based on who would be their first, second and third choice to fill the vacancy.

Leutwyler led the preliminary vote with eight points, followed by Thornton with seven votes, and Baum and Wright tied with five points, Lashgari and MacCoy tied with four votes followed by Roberts with three votes. With a tie for third place, four candidates moved to the next round.

Since there was a tie, Leutwyler, Thornton, Wright and Baum moved on to the final round of voting, where the council was to narrow the choice to two candidates. Leutwyler led the round with three votes, Thorton with two, Wright with one and Baum with zero.

Leutwyler and Thornton moved on to round two of the final vote, initially tying before the council came back from an executive session with a unanimous vote for Thornton.

Preliminary vote

First choice (3 points):

• Patrick Decker: Marie MacCoy
• George Hurst: Robert Leutwyler
• Josh Binda: Becky Thornton
• David Parshall: Chelsea Wright
• Escamilla: Becky Thornton
• Nick Coelho: Robert Leutwyler

Second choice (2 points): 

• Escamilla: Forrest Baum
• Hurst: Chelsea Wright
• Coelho: Naz Lashgari
• Binda: Forrest Baum
• Decker: Robert Leutwyler
• Parshall: Naz Lashgari

Third choice (1 point): 

• Hurst: Marie MacCoy
• Decker: Becky Thornton
• Parshall: Jessica Roberts
• Coelho: Forrest Baum
• Escamilla: Jessica Roberts
• Binda: Jessica Roberts

First round final vote:

• Coelho: Robert Leutwyler
• Parshall: Chelsea Wright
• Escamilla: Becky Thornton
• Hurst: Robert Leutwyler
• Decker: Robert Leutwyler
• Binda: Becky Thornton

Second round final vote: 

• Binda: Becky Thornton
• Escamilla: Becky Thornton
• Parshall: Becky Thornton
• Hurst: Robert Leutwyler
• Coelho: Robert Leutwyler
• Decker: Robert Leutwyler

Third round final vote: 

Unanimous vote for Becky Thornton.

— Contact Ashley at ashley@myedmondsnews.com.