Abel Pacheco Jr.

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Abel Pacheco Jr.
Pacheco-Starbucks-18 (48867142071) (cropped).jpg
Pacheco, October 2019
Member of the Seattle City Council
from District 4
In office
April 22, 2019 –November 27, 2019

Abel Pacheco Jr. is an American politician from Seattle, Washington. He was appointed to the District 4 seat on the Seattle City Council in April 2017.

Contents

Early life and education

Pacheco was raised by Mexican immigrant parents in Los Angeles, California. [2] He earned his bachelors degree in political science at California State University, Northridge before moving to Seattle. [3] He has a Masters of Public Affairs degree from the University of Washington. [4]

Pacheco worked at the Seattle Foundation and the Seattle Police Foundation. [3] He later worked at the University of Washington as the assistant director of the Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity and the STEM program director. [2] [5]

In 2015, Pacheco was wrongfully arrested for allegedly assaulting a cab driver after receiving a promotion at the University of Washington. The conviction was later expunged. [2] [6]

Seattle City Council

Prior attempts

For the first time, seven city council seats were decided by geographic representation in the 2015 election. Pacheco ran in District 4 against incumbent Jean Godden. [1] [7] Pacheco came in fifth place in the August primary, receiving only 8.43% of the vote. [8]

In 2017, Pacheco ran for the appointment to fill the seat of Tim Burgess, who had become acting mayor. [9] The council appointed Kirsten Harris-Talley to fill the seat. [7]

2019 council appointment

In 2019, Pacheco ran for city council in District 4 after incumbent Rob Johnson (Seattle politician) stated he would not run for reelection. [10] During the election, Pacheco accused rival and future District 4 councilmember Alex Pedersen of sending emails saying, "Abel is a criminal." [2] Pederson denied the accusation. [2]

In March 2019, Johnson announced that he would resign from the city council in April to work as a transportation adviser for Seattle's new NHL team. [11] Pacheco was appointed to fill the position in a "caretaker" role, and stated that he would drop out of the District 4 race. [10]

Pacheco was chair of the Planning, Land Use & Zoning Committee during his time in office focusing on urbanist issues. [12] As chair, he introduced legislation that would reduce the amount of time for environmental review for projects related to housing and climate change. [13] The legislation received some push-back from over concerns of environmental protection and reduction in civic engagement, but passed 8-0. [14] [15]

Personal life

After leaving the city council, Pacheco then worked for Sound Transit. [16] In June 2023, he joined the Washington State Army National Guard as a part-time intelligence analyst. [4]

References

  1. 1 2 Beekman, Daniel (May 1, 2019). "Meet Abel Pacheco, Seattle's newest (and temporary) City Council member". The Seattle Times. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Graham, Nathalie (March 29, 2019). "Abel Pacheco, Once Wrongfully Arrested, Is Running for City Council to Reform Seattle's Criminal Justice System". The Stranger. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
  3. 1 2 "Abel Pacheco Subject Files, 2019". Archive West. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
  4. 1 2 Yu Pai, Shin. "Changemakers: Then and now". University of Washington. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
  5. ↑ Hyde, David (April 23, 2019). "Newest Seattle City Council member will have to dive into zoning". KUOW. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
  6. ↑ Beekman, Daniel (April 23, 2019). "Meet the newest Seattle City Council member: Abel Pacheco Jr. appointed to succeed Rob Johnson". The Seattle Times. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
  7. 1 2 Kroman, David (April 22, 2019). "City Council picks Abel Pacheco Jr. to rep NE Seattle — and help lead city zoning conversations". Crosscut. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
  8. ↑ "Election Results" (PDF). King County Elections. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
  9. ↑ Norimine, Hayat (October 3, 2017). "Here Are the Applicants for the Interim City Council Seat". Seattle Met. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
  10. 1 2 Daniels, Chris (April 22, 2019). "Abel Pacheco Jr. appointed to Seattle City Council". King 5.
  11. ↑ My Northwest Staff (March 21, 2019). "Seattle Councilmember Rob Johnson to resign in April". My Northwest. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
  12. ↑ Cohen, Josh (January 19, 2024). "What's it like to be appointed to the Seattle City Council?". Cascade PBS. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
  13. ↑ Rantz, Jason (September 11, 2019). "Seattle council member hopes to cut through red tape with new measure". KTTH. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
  14. ↑ Staff (September 10, 2019). "Stop Seattle City Council's faux environmentalism". The Seattle Times. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
  15. ↑ Peha, Joseph (October 7, 2019). "Councilmembers Pacheco, O'Brien Applaud Passage of SEPA Reform, Honoring Original Intent of Protecting Environment". Seattle City Council. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
  16. ↑ "Program: Abel Pacheco, "Service Expansion and Transit-Oriented Development: Sound Transit's Plans for the Future," June 8, 2023". University Sunrise Rotary Club. June 5, 2023. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
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