Facing unprecedented low interest in officer openings, Leschi Community Council wonders what to do next

The Leschi Community Council is preparing for its annual officers’ election on June 7, and the council dodged a proverbial bullet to its governance.

Until last week, no one in the neighborhood had put themselves forward as a candidate for council president or vice president, meaning no one would be there to replace outgoing president Yuki Igarashi. The vice presidency has remained absent since local grocer Yousef Shulman stepped down earlier this year and became the council’s “Leschi Business Associate.”

Real estate broker and 14-year Leschi resident Janice Brown submitted her candidacy for president May 30. If no one else submits candidacy before the June 7 meeting, she will effectively become the next council president by default. The vice presidency remains without a candidate.

“I am not sure if [this] has ever happened to us before,” council Secretary Diane Snell said in response to an inquiry from the Times. “[I’m] not sure what we would do. It is discouraging not to have interest.”

Snell said the situation was particularly discouraging because the two positions have few responsibilities relative to other offices, like treasurer or secretary. The president is responsible for their attendance at two meetings per month, for writing a column in the monthly Leschi News newsletter, the introduction of speakers at the council’s general meetings, and enforcement of meeting agendas. The vice president’s sole duty is the formation of a nominating committee for the council’s annual election.

The modern lack of interest stands in contrast to the council’s history, from fights against real estate redlining in the ‘50s and ‘60s; to the fight for public right of way at residential street-ends, which went to the State Supreme Court and resulted in several street-end parks by the shore of Lake Washington.

Council members “combed the neighborhood” for potential vice presidents after Shulman stepped down, but only found people who said they already felt overcommitted, Snell said. She theorized this was due to a demographic shift in the neighborhood toward younger families with children.

“It was hard to find any kids when we moved here in ‘89,” she said. “But as older folks left their homes, young families moved in, so it’s come full circle.

“I think Madrona has the same problem, if it is one: More families with young kids.”