By Jason Cruz
Northwest Asian Weekly
Frank Irigon
Longtime Newcastle resident and Filipino civil rights activist Frank Irigon is running for Newcastle City Council.
“I decided to run after having met with several people from within the community.”
Irigon kicked off his campaign in April of this year for Position No. 6. With a history of activism and public service on his resume, Irigon is taking on the task of getting word out that he is running for city council to all of his neighbors in the city. Despite the pandemic, Irigon has safely gone door-to-door, wearing a mask to contact the people of Newcastle. He’s also had a fundraiser and online events in support of his campaign.
“I have been using my community organizing skills,” said Irigon. The position is non-partisan and he believes that he could work with opposing sides of issues in making the city sustainable.
Although non-partisan, Irigon has garnered the support of two sitting members of the Newcastle City Council, as well as three former city council members and state Sen. Bob Hasegawa.
Born in the Philippines in 1947, Irigon’s father joined the U.S. military and his family moved to the United States, where his father was stationed at Fort Lewis. Irigon followed in his father’s footsteps in joining the U.S. military. He eventually returned to the area and attended the University of Washington, where he earned his Bachelor of Arts and then a Masters in Social Work.
While in college during the 1970s, Irigon attended anti-war rallies while serving in the ROTC. He was active in student government and participated in social justice activities.
In 2017, Irigon was awarded the Martin Luther King, Jr. Medal of Distinguished Service by the King County Council, which honors those that have improved the lives of communities in King County. The Northwest Asian Weekly also honored Irigon with its Lifetime Achievement Award.
“I am running on the belief of fiscal responsibility, accountability, transparency, and equal justice for all.”
One of the issues that has sparked Irigon’s campaign is the addition to the city budget of a 3% utility tax posed on residents to assist in funding police and the fire department in 2020 during the pandemic. Irigon and many Newcastle residents he has spoken with felt it was unfair and an adjustment of priorities by those in power that was not transparent to the greater population of residents.
Also, Irigon is hearing concerns of development negatively impacting the city.
“Too much density,” said Irigon of the continued projects of condos, townhomes, and other upbuildings in the city. “Instead of single family residences, development wants to rezone.” Irigon voiced concerns that the city was not doing a good enough job in making sure that residents knew of the plans of developers, which would build more multi-unit projects in the city. “We are running out of land for development.” He notes that the city garners revenues from property, sales, and development but with more projects occurring in the city, they are running out of this third resource.
Irigon believes that there should be more resident involvement with the city’s planning commission.
“People are too friendly with developers.” He added, “There are no checks and balances. The city needs to do a better job with community engagement.”
Irigon is being challenged by Paul Charbonneau for the seat. Despite the two vying for the one seat, the race has been amicable.
“I like my opponent,” said Irigon. “We just have differences on how to run the city.”
Jason can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.