Here is a selection of the questions the Auburn City Council put to Lisa Stirgus and the other candidates for the seat vacated by Larry Brown, followed by answers received before the council adjourned to an executive session.

Councilmembers did not know the candidates’ names or any personal information about them until they returned from the session. All they knew were numbers that had been randomly added to their applications by City Clerk Shawn Campbell. This was to prevent candidates from gaining an unfair advantage over the other candidates with councilmembers they might have been familiar with.

The following excerpts have been edited for clarity and space.

Councilmember and Deputy Mayor Rakes: “Your major issues in the application process were juvenile crime, homelessness and public safety. Other than those things, what would you bring forward to council to address?”

Lisa Stirgus: “My three priorities are public safety, which includes homelessness, but also supporting police and fire, clean, well-painted public spaces, and supporting small businesses. Also, I’m super passionate about helping juveniles to ensure that they are not in the criminal system. I sit on the King County Children and Youth Advisory Board, and I am co-chair of the Youth Justice Subcommittee, which is the primary mission for helping to stop the school to prison pipeline.”

“In addition to that, to me helping small business owners or business owners — and I come from banking — so when I say I want to help business, I don’t mean to discount business owners. It’s just that anything under a billion is typically a small business … But I think that for me, I am very passionate about bringing business here to Auburn, figuring out how to work with our existing business owners to look at the taxes they pay so they are excited to be business owners here.”

Councilmember Kate Baldwin: “If appointed as a councilmember, you would have the power to bring substantial change to Auburn. Please describe the steps you would take to update existing city codes and or policies.”

Lisa Stirgus: “Well, as a city councilmember, I think there’s a lot of learning, but I also heard last week from you all when you were selecting candidates that there was an advantage to … . folks that have applied that have been former prior city councilmembers. So, I am a learner. I think that’s important, but in order to update codes or policies, I think that it’s expected that you need to learn what’s currently working well and what’s currently not working well. I think I that’s my role as a new city councilmember.”

Councilmember Tracy Taylor: “City councilmembers work as a team but may not always agree. So how do you approach collaboration with colleagues who have different views, and how would you ensure productive conversations lead to solutions?”

Lisa Stirgus: “Well, that’s been my whole career – healthy conflict. I actually think people not agreeing is super healthy. My life’s journey has been, I love to learn everyone’s perspectives, and I love when people have varying perspectives. And so, I like to listen. I like to hear. Why are you thinking that way, why do you think that way? Not that it’s going to change my point of view, but it’s going to broaden my perspective.”