There’s a new member of the Lakewood City Council. Here’s what we know about him
Longtime resident Trestin Lauricella was appointed to the Lakewood City Council at its meeting Monday night. He will serve on the council until elections are held in November.
Lauricella replaces council member Linda Farmer, who joined the council in 2019. Farmer resigned in December after she was elected as Pierce County auditor in August.
The City Council selected Lauricella out of seven other candidates for the vacant council position. In his introductory statement to the council, Lauricella said his main priorities are community engagement, government accountability, economic growth and resiliency.
Lauricella works as a senior engineering manager for Boeing and serves as the director of the Rachel Lynn Henley Foundation. Under his leadership, Lauricella said, the non-profit has raised $750,000 to fund research into childhood cancers and enrich the quality of life for young cancer fighters.
“This is my first time running for office,” Lauricella said. “I felt like I had spent a lot of my life kind of building up to this.”
Lauricella said he’s lived in the Nyanza Park neighborhood in Lakewood for the past 41 years and learned to appreciate service and environmental stewardship when he joined the Boy Scouts as a child, eventually going on to earn an Eagle Scout Award.
Lauricella attended Pierce College, the University of Washington and Saint Martin’s University. Most recently he earned his master’s degree in business at Seattle University.
In an interview letter to the council, Lauricella said his engineering background drives his dedication for data-driven decision making, and his leadership experience has taught him “how to influence without authority, to focus on common priorities to enable action and how to develop and execute on strategic business road maps to deliver results.”
In terms of community engagement, Lauricella said the council should leverage and empower the community through its boards and commissions and strengthen strategic partnerships with neighborhood communities.
To foster economic growth and resiliency, Lauricella said the council could continue marketing to new businesses, support and promote minority-owned small businesses in Lakewood, and share lessons and other tools at the council’s disposal with others in the community.
In terms of government accountability and performance, Lauricella said Lakewood should maintain “best-in-class” customer service metrics for all city departments, supporting the city’s social service needs and understanding the council’s fiscal responsibility.
In his closing statement to the council, Lauricella said, “in the spirit of putting the best interests of our community above my own,” he would commit to donating his salary as a part-time council member to benefit pediatric cancer patients through the Rachel Lynn Henley Foundation.
“I’m happy to serve and ready to contribute,” Lauricella said.
