Patterson tapped to fill Hoquiam Council Ward 3 vacancy

By Dan Hammock • October 9, 2018 7:00 pm
DAN HAMMOCK | THE DAILY WORLD Shannon Patterson (left) is sworn in to the Ward 3 Hoquiam City Council position by Mayor Jasmine Dickhoff Monday. She takes over the position from Kevin Swope, who recently resigned to take a position with the Hoquiam City Jail.
DAN HAMMOCK | THE DAILY WORLD Shannon Patterson (left) is sworn in to the Ward 3 Hoquiam City Council position by Mayor Jasmine Dickhoff Monday. She takes over the position from Kevin Swope, who recently resigned to take a position with the Hoquiam City Jail.

Hoquiam native Shannon Patterson was unanimously chosen by the Hoquiam City Council Monday to fill a vacant council seat for Ward 3.

Patterson said she was “intrigued” by the opportunity to serve on the council and, after discussing it with her family and peers, “decided to write a letter” expressing her interest.

She grew up in Hoquiam, graduated from Hoquiam High School then, after college, in 2007, decided to move her young family back to the area where she grew up.

“I have chosen to raise my own children in my old neighborhood in West Hoquiam,” she told the council. Her husband, Daniel, is the band director at Aberdeen High School; Patterson works for the Wishkah Valley School District. “I teach all music and band for grades K-12 and all the high school Spanish,” she said.

Patterson’s service to the community started early in her life.

As a teen-ager, she worked for the City of Hoquiam as a lifeguard and swim instructor at the Hoquiam Aquatic Center. When she returned to Hoquiam she helped establish the Hoquiam Community Garden by translating fliers and signs into Spanish “so that more members of our city could access that service.”

Patterson told the council, “I get so much out of living in Hoquiam, I would love to give back.”

Patterson was the only applicant for the position, which became vacant when Kevin Swope resigned to take a post with the Hoquiam City Jail. Immediately after council approval, Mayor Jasmine Dickhoff swore Patterson into office.

There is still one vacancy on the Hoquiam City Council to be filled. Ward 2 Councilwoman Logan Livingston resigned in September. Anyone living in Ward 2 may apply. Mail letters of interest to City of Hoquiam, Attn: Council secretary, 609 8th St., Hoquiam, WA 98550. For more information, contact Tracy Wood at twood@cityofhoquiam.com or 360-538-3970.