Redmond City Council Special Meeting - Commission Candidate Interviews (April 14, 2026)
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Redmond City Council Special Meeting: Commission Candidate Interviews (April 14, 2026)
The Redmond City Council held a special meeting on April 14, 2026, at 6:30 PM to interview candidates for the Arts and Culture Commission and the Human Services Commission. All council members were present; Mayor Birney was absent. After introductions and council questions, the council agreed to add all four candidates to the consent agenda for the April 21, 2026 regular meeting.
Arts and Culture Commission Interviews
- Introduced by Chris Weber, Cultural Arts Supervisor. The commission advises the city on arts policies and programming; members serve up to two consecutive three-year terms.
- Candidates: Rick Deskin (actor, stage manager, stagehand, former artistic director, SAG-AFTRA board member) and Joyce K. Paul (dancer, choreographer, anthropologist, founder of Rpan Performing Arts and Scarf Global).
- Rick Deskin expressed interest in increasing performance opportunities, turning abandoned spaces (e.g., in Redmond Town Center) into performance venues, and leveraging the new light rail to make Redmond a destination. He also suggested exploring a combined film and arts commission.
- Joyce K. Paul proposed a public-private partnership with tech companies to build a world-class performing arts theater in Redmond, connecting Redmond's diverse ethnic communities (noting ~40% of residents are foreign-born), integrating arts with social justice and mental health support for youth, and creating small home museums to capture Redmond's evolving identity beyond its logging and tech history.
- Council questions explored the “soul and essence of Redmond.” Deskin emphasized the residents and natural spaces; Paul said the soul changes daily and is defined by community principles of support and humanity.
- Council members expressed enthusiasm for both candidates’ backgrounds and ideas.
Human Services Commission Interviews
- Introduced by Alaric, human services staff. The meeting also previewed a future Committee of the Whole update on the application process.
- Candidates: Sabrina Sevilla (occupational therapist, small business owner, immigrant from Philippines, Redmond resident since 2018) and Sonia Lawson Salmasi (former lecturer, romance author, mother of a newborn, PhD in literature, Redmond resident since 2021, experienced homelessness as a child).
- Sabrina Sevilla shared personal experience helping immigrant family access services and her work with families in the Lake Washington School District. She said she wants to use her perspective to serve underserved communities.
- Sonia Lawson Salmasi emphasized fostering community, diversity, and equity, especially for marginalized groups (unhoused, disabled, elderly). She wants her son to grow up in a community that values positive change.
- Council questions: Vice President Nuevacamina asked what they would celebrate after two years. Sevilla highlighted effective nonprofits and funding proposals; Salmasi emphasized giving voice and agency to hidden communities.
- Councilmember Prakriya noted the Human Services Commission faces tough funding decisions: there are 140–150 applications totaling over $8 million, far exceeding the budget. Candidates discussed decision-making based on data, collaboration, reach, and tangible impact.
- Council members acknowledged the challenging allocation process and noted that the commission will help refresh the city’s Human Services Strategic Plan, integrated with housing needs.
Key Outcomes
- The council agreed without objection to place both Arts and Culture Commission candidates (Rick Deskin and Joyce K. Paul) and both Human Services Commission candidates (Sabrina Sevilla and Sonia Lawson Salmasi) on the consent agenda for the April 21, 2026 regular meeting for confirmation.
- Candidates were invited to attend the April 21 meeting in person with their families for swearing-in.
- No formal vote was taken; consensus was expressed through verbal agreement and non-verbal cues (e.g., “thumbs up”).
Meeting Transcript
Thank you so much. I'm calling this meeting to order. This is a Redmond City Council meeting, special meeting, excuse me, held on Tuesday, April 14th, 2026, commencing at 6 30 p.m. All council members are in attendance. Mayor Bernie will not be in attendance tonight. This special meeting is being held to interview commission candidates. We have two batches, and we're going to start with the Arts and Culture Commission. Chris Weber, Cultural Arts Supervisor, will introduce the candidates. Thanks, Chris. Thank you. Yeah, the Redmond Arts and Culture Commission is a nine member mayor appointed council confirmed advisory commission. The commission advises the city on arts policies and programming. All commission members are volunteers to serve up to two consecutive three year terms. The two current vacancies on the commission are open to individuals who either live or work inside Redmond City Limits or live in unincorporated King County. Joyce K. Paul is a founder of two arts organizations, Rpan Performing Arts, dedicated to promoting the folk and classical traditions of India and Scarf Global, a foundation that creates and fosters art to galvanize awareness and action for social justice causes. The panel was uh inspired by the way she spoke about the importance of art and impressed with her background in board and committee leadership, her understanding of arts governance, and the point of view she can bring as a dancer choreographer and anthropologist. Rick Deskin is an actor, stage manager, and stagehand. He's also on the SAG AFTRA National Board for the Seattle Local and serves on various committees with Actors Equity. He is also the former artistic director of eclectic theater and former interim artistic director of open door theater. The panel is impressed with his firsthand experience as an artist working in theater and film, his connections to the local theater community, and most importantly, the passion and joy he expressed when talking about the benefits that arts and culture brings to our committee, our community. Thank you. We're excited. Well, thank you so much, Chris, and we're very excited to meet you both. Um I'll go ahead and give you chance, give you both a chance to introduce yourselves and tell us a little bit about what motivated you to take on this experience and serve our community, and then we'll open it up to a couple of council questions. So, Rick, would you like to kick us off? Sure. Um, Rick Deskin, as uh Chris said, I'm an actor, stage manager, and stagehand. And uh I've long been an advocate for our arts and culture uh and within that uh film and theater, uh, both sides uh of the uh of two industries that I work in. Um and when I found out that uh uh that uh there were two openings that are were gonna be on the Redmond Arts and Culture Commission, uh I was interested. I I love living in Redmond. I've been here since 2017. Uh my family uh uh live with me, um two adult sons now and um and my wife. And uh we uh we just want to give back to Redmond and um and also find ways to increase opportunities, uh performance uh opportunities. Thank you so much. Yeah. Hey, as uh Chris mentioned, my name is Joyce immigrant, been living here since the year 2000. So I've lived in Redmond for 25 years. I'm a dancer, um, I'm a theater activist, I'm a social activist. Um, I'm also uh a researcher, so I work in tech. My other life is working in tech. Um, and I have friends who have been on the arts commission. I've been on the board of various arts organizations like Kirkland Performance Center, YMCA, the World Uh Seattle World Percussion Society that does the World Rhythm Festival. Um these arts organizations and they've always been outside of Redmond. They have not been in Redmond. So I thought, why not bring that here? Bring the energy and the sense of civic pride here instead of reaching out to UW and Spectrum. I I worked at Spectrum uh Dance Theater, Carnish College of Arts as faculty, and it was all outside of Redmond. So I was like, how do I bring all of that back into Redmond? This is the only city I've known in the United States, so why not?
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