Margaret A. Pageler

GOVERNANCE AND EMPLOYMENT HISTORY

Central Puget Sound Growth Management Hearings Board - current

• Administrative law judge for land use and planning
• Term of office 2004 - 2010

Seattle City Council 1992-2003

• Council President 2000-2001
• Chaired Council committees on public safety, health, energy, public utilities, environmental management, and intergovernmental relations
• Member, Puget Sound Regional Council, King County Growth Management Planning Council, Regional Water Quality Committee, and various interjurisdictional salmon recovery forums
• Chair, Seattle Public Utilities Operating Board
• Executive committee Association of Washington Cities

Stoel Rives LLP 1981-1991

• Varied legal practice including real estate, banking, utility, environmental and municipal law

Selected Civic Involvement

• Washington State and Seattle/King County Boards of Health, 6 years
• Puget Sound Clean Air Agency, board chair 3 years
• Sister city associations - Seattle/Gdynia, Seattle/Kaohsiung, Seattle/Chongqing
• Seattle Planning Commission, 3 years
• Allied Arts of Seattle, board member and president
• Founding board member Mothers Against Violence in America, 1000 Friends of Washington, Northwest Climate Change Council, Vision Seattle
• Various - Illinois: Schaumburg (IL) Elementary School District school board, 6 years, Northwest (IL) Special Ed Cooperative, board chair 3 years

Honors/Awards

• Elected 2006 to the Board of Governors of the World Water Council, a voice for the global community on critical water issues
• Elected in 2003 and 2006 to the Executive Committee of ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability. ICLEI is an international consortium of more than 700 cities committed to best practices in environmental management
• Municipal League 2001 James R. Ellis Regional Leadership Award

Education

• BA, Wheaton College, IL
• MSEd, Northern Illinois University (educational administration)
• JD, University of Chicago Law School
  

ACHIEVEMENTS

Utilities & Environment

• Water Supply. Provided political oversight of water supply system serving 1.3 million people, as well as Seattle’s stormwater, garbage, recycling and wastewater services. Helped negotiate 50-year water supply contracts with a consortium of suburban cities and water districts in the service area.
• Fighting Electric Deregulation. In the mid-90’s I was one of the early (and sometimes lonely) voices fighting off the trendy pressure in this state to impose California-style energy deregulation. Time proved my analysis correct.
• Cedar River Watershed Preservation. Finalized acquisition of 90,000 acres of forested headwaters and adopted a 50-year habitat conservation plan for Seattle’s long-term water supply.
• Establishing Environmental Office. Created the City's environmental management office and program by introducing City government to greenhouse gas reduction, calling for the first environmental audits of Seattle's municipal shops and garages, increasing government recycling, and sponsoring eco-procurement and pesticide reduction programs.
• Best Practices. Seattle Public Utilities is a consolidation of three separate utilities for efficiency and better customer service. I championed this merger and the adoption of quarterly performance metrics for Seattle Public Utilities and City Light.
• Water Conservation. Commissioned water conservation potential assessment; championed aggressive conservation program regionally. Despite rapid urban growth, the Seattle system uses less water now than in the 1970's.
• Stormwater Management. Initiated the Salmon-Friendly Garden project; sponsored natural-systems drainage design; funded creek and shoreline restorations; developed a coordinated strategy and response to landslide hazards.
• Regionalizing Seattle's Water System and Salmon Recovery. Developed interlocal agreements whereby Seattle collaborates with all the suburban cities in the metropolitan area to plan and implement salmon recovery programs. Worked to convene the alliance of water utilities that now together ensure robust and reliable water supply for people and fish in the region. This successful work won me the Municipal League’s Regional Leadership Award.
• Tolt and Cedar Treatment Plants. Spearheaded application of innovative Design-Build-Operate contracting method to development of these plants, providing the region with reliable access to more clean water and saving ratepayers more than $100 million!
• Landsburg Fish Ladder. Opened up 17 miles of protected up-river habitat for spawning chinook, coho and steelhead through effective advocacy for this project on the Cedar River.

Public Health, Safety and Life Quality

• Community Clinics and Public Health Funding. Developed political momentum to make public health and community clinics a top priority for state and city budgets in 2003.
• Public Health Governance. Served on the State Board of Health, Seattle/King County Board of Health, Regional Water Quality Committee and the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency. Worked to protect clean air and water, provide health regulations, and ensure good service. Developed strategies to increase ethnic diversity in the healthcare workforce.
• Gun Violence. Created community partnerships involving criminal justice and medical professionals along with young people, which dramatically reduced youth gun violence, suicides, accidents and crimes.
• Weed 'n' Seed. Steered this initially explosive and controversial program of combined social service and extra policing into a team effort, resulting in inner-city community support and a successful era of central-city safety.
• Growth Management Planning. Advocated for Growth Management Act; served on King County Growth Management Planning Committee to develop county planning policies, urban growth boundaries and milestones.
• Downtown Seattle Revitalization. In the late 90s, my role in bringing Seattle's dying downtown shopping/entertainment district back to life involved championing controversial behavior codes and extra police patrols essential to the turnaround. It worked!
• Opening McCaw Hall. Helped negotiate the operating agreement that led to 2003 opening of a renovated McCaw Hall, launching a new era of opera and ballet presentations in Seattle.