On 4th try, business attorney appointed to Edmonds City Council

Published 2:00 pm Tuesday, October 18, 2022

EDMONDS — After three rounds of voting, the Edmonds City Council voted to appoint attorney Jenna Nand to fill a vacant seat during a special meeting Monday night.

The council considered 15 applicants for the position. Five made it to the final round of nominations, including Lauren Golembiewski, who owns a Mukilteo environmental consulting company, and current Republican candidate for Legislative District 21’s state Senate seat Janelle Cass.

Nand, 38, a longtime Edmonds resident and founder of business law firm Fortuna Law, was appointed by a 4-2 vote. She fills a vacancy left by former council member Laura Johnson’s resignation in September.

In her application to the council, Nand listed affordability for working class families and seniors as her top priority, pledging to ensure Edmonds is “as economically diverse and inclusive as possible” while preserving the local environment.

Nand had previously been a candidate for City Council seats on three separate occasions, losing a campaign against current council member Diane Buckshnis in 2019’s election by a vote of 61% to 38.6%, then applying for an appointment in 2021. Most recently, Nand applied to fill the vacancy left by council member Kristiana Johnson’s unexpected death in July.

Dave Teitzel, 70, a retired Qwest executive, was sworn in to replace Johnson in September.

In a post to her official Facebook page early Tuesday, Nand thanked supporters of all her runs across the last four years.

“I hope that my story inspires you to go after your goals and to never give up on your aspirations,” she said in the post.

Nand’s term runs through November 2023.

Riley Haun: 425-339-3192; riley.haun@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @RHaunID.