LYNNWOOD—Lynnwood Times Senior Reporter Kienan Briscoe hosted and moderated an in-person interview, and debate, with Lynnwood City Council Position 1 candidate Dio Boucsieguez Tuesday, July 8, at Rosehill Community Center. Position 1 candidates Derica Escamilla and Brandon Kimmel were unable to attend Tuesday’s discussion due to scheduling conflicts. The full video of the interview is at the end of the article.
Boucsieguez is a two-time elected PCO, Small Businessowner and Department Lead at a local grocery store. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington, where he triple-majored in political science, history and communications, with an emphasis in journalism.
For the first question he was given one minute to share with Lynnwood voters his platform priorities and his policies to enact these priorities.
Boucsieguez shared that he is running for the Position 1 seat because he “loves the City of Lynnwood.” His four main platform points are budget and growth management, trust and transparency, public safety, and fostering the arts, culture, and entertainment in Lynnwood.
Reviewing a series of contentious votes Lynnwood City Council took over the last two years, Dio was then asked how he hypothetically would have voted if given the same opportunity.
The first was the property tax hike approved with the biennium budget. At its Business Meeting held November 25, 2024, the council voted 4-3, to raise property by a “take-home” rate of 52%.
“First off, it’s unfortunate that the person who voted for that 52% increase isn’t here today. I sure would have loved to learn why she voted that way, but I would have voted no,” said Boucsieguez. “I’m a working-class guy, I’m a blue-collar guy, I’m endorsed by various unions, including my own, and I know the struggles that working class people face. Adding rising property taxes to working class folks is not going to help keep our city livable.”
Another contentious issue in the City Council as of late has been the discussion of recodifying residency requirements for clarity; included in that is how residency within the city is proven. Dio was asked if he is for residency requirement recodifications in the current Lynnwood Municipal Code.
“We’ve seen over the last couple of years, and especially this last year, a certain council member has had difficulty proving his residency. I believe to serve on the Lynnwood City Council you need to actually live in the city and to prove that you live in the city,” said Boucsieguez. “So I’m absolutely in favor of strengthening, and recodifying, those residency requirements.”
Boucsieguez added that city government needs to have a level of trust and transparency with its residents that, without, there is no public trust.
On June 25 this year, the Council unanimously approved a Unified Development Code (or UDC) which updated and consolidated building development, regulations, and boosts density. In that same vote, Council did not approve the affixed fire sprinkler mandate. Dio was asked if he would have supported the UDC, and additionally, if he would have included the fire sprinkler mandate.
“I would have supported the fire sprinkler mandate. I understand certain council members’ objections regarding the cost but I believe that just one person’s life is worth more than simply thousands of dollars,” said Boucsieguez.
Back in April of 2024, the Lynnwood City Council unanimously approved Mayor Frizzell to enter into an eight-year $6.4 million Multifamily Tax Exemption (MFTE) with ACG Acquisitions, LLC, the developer of ENSO, a new 318-unit mixed-use housing development scheduled to open next year in Lynnwood’s City Center that will offer new housing options at market value for residents. The Multi-Family Housing Property Tax Exemption program is an incentive to property owners, in this case ACG Acquisitions, LLC, to not have to pay property taxes on the residential improvements for a given number of years.
Boucsieguez shared that he would have voted for a tax deferral but said eight years is “way too long.” He would like to see more condominium construction in the city to keep up with its growing population.
An upcoming vote this September would either approve, or not approve, recreational cannabis retailers to operate within the city limits of Lynnwood. There have been multiple discussions on this at City Council meetings as of late.
Boucsieguez says he does not support recreational cannabis stores in Lynnwood stating that there are already cannabis retailers operating in Edmonds and in unincorporated Lynnwood on Highway 99. His reasoning, he said, is due to the adverse addictive, and psychological affects, cannabis has on particularly younger residents.
Lynnwood’s motto is “All Are Welcome.” Dio was next asked how he would commit to this mission statement and ensure that Lynnwood remains a safe and equitable community for all.
“In terms of being safe we need to make sure that we continue to support our local law enforcement, and make sure that we have our regional public safety partnerships still in place, as well as continuing to fund our municipal courts,” said Boucsieguez.
In terms of being “equitable,” he added that with a thriving arts and entertainment center would unite people from diverse backgrounds together under a shared interest in the arts.
“When we have a thriving arts, and entertainment culture, we have a much more diverse and equitable society,” said Boucsieguez.
When it came to the most important infrastructure project in the City of Lynnwood, his answer, again, referred to more housing options to absorb the projected growth of the city, and Snohomish County at large.
There is a lot of emphasis on making Lynnwood a “live, work, play city.” Dio was asked what he would do to establish Lynnwood as a “destination” city.
Circling back to his platform point on bolstering Lynnwood’s arts and entertainment culture, Dio referenced Edmond’s Porch Fest which, he said, Lynnwood doesn’t have anything similar.
“I think having comedy clubs, piano bars, we need to be open to having diverse entertainment options so that people of all ages can live, work, and thrive in the city,” said Boucsieguez.
To improve the city’s green spaces, Dio used Savannah, Georgia, as an example – a city that was intentionally designed with green spaces in mind, he said – to exemplify what he would like to see in the City of Lynnwood. He added that he would sit down and talk to the Parks and Recreation Department to figure out how to make more green spaces to allow residents to “connect to nature,” especially given its projected population boom.
Seeing as Boucsieguez was the only Position 1 candidate to attend Tuesday’s event, the debate portion of the evening was more of a continuation of questions beginning with what he would recommend to mitigate the city’s $4.3 million budget shortfall if the Budget Management Plan presented by Finance Director Michelle Meyer doesn’t close the gap.
Dio’s priority, he said, is to ensure that city staff will not lose their jobs. He then would like to have a third-party financial and process audit to have a date-driven approach to making spending more efficient.
Regarding public safety, Boucsieguez was asked what he believes the city is doing right and where he believes there might be some opportunity of improvement.
As far as what the city is doing “right” Boucsieguez said that the Lynnwood PD has a “great relationship with its community.” Having recently refereed the ACCESS Project’s Cops v. Kids basketball program, he would like to see more programs like that within the community to establish a working relationship.
As far as improvement Dio would like to advocate for the return of the School Resource Officers in Lynnwood schools.
In his closing remarks Dio claimed he is the labor candidate for the position, having been endorsed by various unions, and “just wants to get the job done.”
“No more drama, no more politics (ironically). I just want to be there for the city, to have good, level-headed, calm, representation on the City Council. I want to have good budgets, I want to have good public safety, I want to restore trust and transparency to local government, I want to foster the arts, entertainment, and culture in our city,” said Boucsieguez. “There’s so much that can be done and as of right now we’re on the right trajectory, but we can certainly improve and I want to be a part of the solution.”
The Primary Election ballots drop boxes open July 17 with ballots due no later than 8 p.m. on August 5.
Video Interview with Candidates
Author: Kienan Briscoe
