Redmond City Council Special Meeting: Human Services Commission Candidate Interview (July 21, 2026)
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Redmond City Council Special Meeting: Human Services Commission Candidate Interview (July 21, 2026)
This special meeting was held on July 21, 2026, to interview a candidate for the Human Services Commission. The sole agenda item was the interview of Austin Ash and Brenner, a senior pastor at Redmond Presbyterian Church who lives outside city limits but works in Redmond, as allowed by the commission's ordinance for up to two non-resident seats. Council members asked questions about the candidate's motivations, community needs, equity principles, and youth perspectives. No formal vote was taken; the council indicated they would consider the appointment at the next business meeting.
Discussion Items
- Candidate Interview: Councilmembers questioned candidate Austin Ash and Brenner about his interest in commission service, community needs, and decision-making approaches.
- Motivation: The candidate expressed a desire to serve the community and learn about neighbors' stories, citing his role as a faith leader whose congregation largely resides in Redmond.
- Pressing Needs: He identified food insecurity, affordable housing (noting Plymouth Housing supportive housing efforts), and a “loneliness epidemic” as key priorities.
- Serving Diverse Populations: When asked about ensuring fairness while supporting underserved groups, he emphasized intentional listening, building relationships, and paying attention to smaller or niche nonprofits that may be overlooked.
- Youth Perspective: Drawing on past youth ministry experience, he stressed that young people need to be seen and heard as current contributors, not just future ones, and that youth are leading indicators of community issues.
- Decision-Making Principles: When faced with competing priorities and limited resources, the candidate said he would rely on the commission's collective wisdom, slow down to avoid rushing, and focus on goals and missed opportunities.
- Council Feedback: Councilmember Kritzer praised the candidate's involvement in the food box program. Councilmember Prakriya (a former youth advisor on the commission) noted appreciation for his willingness to serve.
Key Outcomes
- No vote taken at this special meeting. The council scheduled a decision for the next business meeting, with councilmembers signaling positive sentiment (nods and smiles). Mayor Birney stated, “We hope to see you there… we look forward to having you join our commission.”
Meeting Transcript
I'm calling this meeting to order. This is a Redmond City Council special meeting held on Tuesday, July 21st, 2026, commencing at 6 45 p.m. Council members, all council members are in attendance. This special meeting is being held to interview the Human Services Commission candidate. Austin Ash and Brenner. Alarc Bienn, senior planner will introduce this candidate. Great. Thank you, Mayor. So this is senior pastor at Redmond Presbyterian Church, Austin Ash and Brenner, and we're just so happy to have him potentially join the commission. He is not a resident. He lives outside of the city limits, but the ordinance that established the Human Services Commission allows for up to two seats for non-residents as long as they work in the city, and he works in the city. Thank you very much for that introduction and good evening to you all. It's a pleasure to be here. And I think you all have questions for me, but I don't know. Yeah. Thank you so much. Yeah, I'll ask open it up to the council for questions. And I see Council President Stewart has a question. Thanks, Mm. Yeah, thank you so much for being with us. I wonder if we could hear a little bit. It sounds like you're very involved in the community. Could you talk to us a little bit about why you're interested specifically in commission service and why now that makes uh the most sense for you? I I appreciate that question. Um, you know, a lot of the work that I do as a leader of a faith community and with our particular congregation is asking the question uh how do we be good neighbors to those in our community? And and while uh as he mentioned, I don't live in Redmond. I I work with you know the vast majority of my congregation that does. And so we want to be committed to our neighbors and our neighborhoods and these communities that that we live in and work in and play in. Um and I think one of the best ways that we can be good neighbors and and good uh supporters to our community is to know the stories and the struggles and and the victories of our neighbors. Um and we do some of that work as a church, or at least we try, but I think the the human services commission is is very much on the front edge of learning those stories, especially of uh our community members here in Redmond who are perhaps struggling or who are um you know perhaps not often heard. And so um as I've interfaced with this commission in doing other work, um it just felt like I would love the opportunity to participate and to uh to bring any amount of help I can bring to the commission, but also to to learn through this work what what's going on in our community and how we can continue to serve all of our neighbors. So yeah. Thank you. Council member Kritzer. Well, thank you so much for applying to serve in in this role. That this commission does a lot of work and in an all-volunteer capacity, so appreciate that. Um I'm curious, um, and and actually I'll note um really a big fan of the food box program. I've uh been myself volunteering with it since the pandemic started in 2020, and just see what an impact that makes for hundreds of families and and people across our our community. So um really appreciate that that work. I'm curious um since it does seem like uh the the work that you've done has allowed you, I imagine, to um get a sense of the needs in our community. Um so I'm just curious to hear what do you think are some of the most pressing needs that you're seeing that you think that the city should be um prioritizing in terms of funding uh and support for our for those in need in our community. That's a great question. And and I uh I'll I'll give it a shot, and I also uh will completely admit that I think um I suspect there are plenty of those needs that um fly below the radar, but the ones that that I have been able to see, like you mentioned through the food box program and others, is is certainly food insecurity. Uh and and all of the other pieces of the family life that that touches. And so when a family is is struggling with food insecurity, how that also impacts um child care and and housing security and and and all of those kind of down the line impacts. Um I certainly think uh affordable housing uh is is an issue. It's another one of those ones in Redmond that can be a bit invisible because we don't have a large homelessness population, but certainly a population that is in need of affordable housing. And I I know I was just here months ago uh congratulating you all and thanking you all for the work that you guys have been doing, uh pushing forward uh supportive housing through Plymouth Housing and other groups like that. Um so I I think that's a a big priority. The third one that I would mention would be uh, and it's a bit more nebulous, but somewhere in the neighborhood of um uh kind of the the the loneliness epidemic and and the need for connection and community.
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