VOTE411 Voter Guide

I believe meaningful leadership starts with listening. I’ve made it a point during my time on the City Council to engage directly with residents, businesses, and community organizations through regular meetings, public events, and one-on-one conversations. I also actively encourage residents to attend council and committee meetings and share their thoughts during public comment periods. Moving forward, I’ll continue using these avenues — along with social media, neighborhood forums, and informal meet-ups — to stay connected, accessible, and accountable to the people of Federal Way.

While state and federal agencies set most of the regulatory framework, cities play a critical role in protecting and improving their local environment. For Federal Way, that means responsible land use planning, sustainable development policies, protecting parks and open spaces, and ensuring clean streets, waterways, and public areas. We must balance economic growth with environmental stewardship and take practical, locally-focused steps to preserve the natural spaces that make our city a great place to live and thrive.

Public service has been a defining part of my life since my early twenties. I’ve served our country as an Iraq War veteran in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, volunteered over 1,000 hours at St. Francis Hospital in Federal Way, coached middle school wrestling at Totem Middle School, and currently teach Jiu-Jitsu to local youth and adults. In 2022, I was honored to be appointed to the Federal Way City Council, where I’ve worked hard to improve public safety, support local families, advocate for responsible fiscal management, and promote family-wage jobs and affordable housing opportunities.

Federal Way must address homelessness with both compassion and accountability. I believe public resources should support sober, recovery-focused housing programs, while private groups wishing to offer services to those actively using drugs should secure independent funding. We must also expand mental health and addiction services, improve job training opportunities, and ensure our law enforcement, courts, and social services work collaboratively. Addressing the root causes of homelessness — like addiction, mental health, and joblessness — is the only way to reduce chronic homelessness and improve public safety for all residents.

My vision is for Federal Way to be a safe, welcoming, family-friendly community where people can live, work, and thrive together. That means strong families, safer neighborhoods, increased public safety partnerships, affordable middle housing options, and more family-wage jobs. I want to see a revitalized downtown with mixed-use development, a year-round public market, and a walkable, vibrant city center. I envision a city where residents feel proud to call Federal Way home.

I genuinely love connecting with people—it’s what I enjoy most about public service. I plan to regularly attend community events, listen to concerns, and stay accessible. A councilmember shouldn’t just hold a title—they should be a true advocate. I have a record of being available, including publishing my personal cell phone. I’ll continue that approach and host informal gatherings like “Coffee and Chat” or “Lunch with Martin” to foster honest, two-way conversations. I also want to expand online engagement through social media, virtual town halls, and community surveys. Everyone deserves to feel seen and heard, even if they can’t attend a city meeting. I believe in meeting people where they are—whether at a neighborhood event, a local business, or in their inbox. My goal is to ensure that every resident feels respected, valued, and represented. I will always be approachable, responsive, and committed to earning the trust of our community—because that’s what public service is all about.

While many environmental challenges are global, local government plays a vital role in protecting natural spaces and quality of life. A key issue in Federal Way is the impact of SeaTac flight paths over neighborhoods like Marine Hills, where residents face noise, debris, and harmful pollution. Other cities have pushed for flight path changes—we must do the same. I’ll build a coalition with state leaders and Congressman Adam Smith to advocate for a reconfigured plan that protects our residents. This is a quality-of-life issue.

As a councilmember, I was proud to help preserve Camp Kilworth, a historic site once at risk of development. After years of closure, it’s now protected and serves youth outdoor education. This is the kind of local stewardship we need—preserving green space, honoring history, and giving future generations access to nature. Local governments may not solve the climate crisis alone, but we have a duty to protect what’s in our care.

My public service journey began with my experience as an orphan and immigrant, arriving in Federal Way from Bulgaria as an orphan at the age eight. I know what it’s like to learn English on unfamiliar ground and to feel unseen by government.

Federal Way became my home, and I’ve been committed to serving it ever since—first as an AmeriCorps member after college, then as a Parks Commissioner. As a Councilmember from 2013 to 2021, I helped launch the City Budget Dashboard for fiscal transparency, televised committee hearings, and established a sister-city relationship with Revne, Ukraine. I’m ready to continue that work and pick up right where I left off.

Visit my website to see my accomplishments at www.ElectMartin.com

Federal Way must take a comprehensive, long-term approach to addressing homelessness. Too often, we rely on short-term fixes for a deeply rooted issue. With recent federal cuts to essential programs like Medicaid and SNAP, it's more urgent than ever to step up locally to prevent people from falling into homelessness.

That means supporting nonprofits like FUSION, which provides transitional housing, and expanding public resources like the Day Center, which offers services but have been facing recent risks of closure. I want to increase its hours and days of operation to meet community needs.

We must also ensure services like the Multi-Service Center’s food bank remain strong. Additionally, we need to address root causes—addiction, poverty, and mental health—through thoughtful, compassionate policy.

As a councilmember, I’ll work collaboratively to develop sustainable solutions that protect and uplift our most vulnerable neighbors and ensure no one in Federal Way is left behind.

I envision a Federal Way that is safe, inclusive, thriving, and beautiful. With the arrival of Sound Transit light rail in 2026, we have a major opportunity to grow in ways that benefit all residents—especially working families.

My vision includes strengthening public safety, uplifting disenfranchised communities—including immigrants, communities of color, seniors, and youth—and creating real economic opportunities for middle-class families. I also believe in investing in clean streets, parks, and public spaces that reflect pride in our city. As we prepare for growth, our government must lead with bold, inclusive solutions that keep neighborhoods strong and welcoming. We must be ready to both manage and embrace the thousands of people who will come through our city.

I see a future where the City of Federal Way and the Greater Federal Way Chamber of Commerce work together to build shared prosperity for our residents, local businesses, and the broader community.

I try to get out to as many city events as possible. I’ve also made my real phone number and email available as part of the campaign.

As a bedroom community Federal Way’s main contributions to the climate crisis we are facing comes down to the choices we make as consumers. We should be doing everything we can to increase the use of renewables within city limits and expand the number of public EV charging stations. The biggest power the city has is making it easier for consumers to make choices that benefit the climate and the community.

This would be my first public service position.

It’s a complicated issue and it’s going to take a complicated solution.

In the long term we need more housing. I would would propose that the city offer to purchase lots from interested homeowners to take charge of building affordable housing instead of relying on developers. When these units are built they can be sold to first time home buyers for a little above cost to recoup the cost and fund the program further. This will take seed money to get started but can become self funding quickly.

In the short term we need to increase funding for the Day Center, Emergency Housing, and Public Housing. We need to expand the hours of these services so that there are not odd hours where people are forced out into the streets to wait around until the other building opens.

Federal Way is uniquely positioned with the light rail coming online sometime soon. We need to revitalize the 320th corridor to take advantage of having the only real city center with a light rail stop on the southend for at least another decade. This means doing everything we can to expand housing but also finding ways to lure in bigger businesses so that our workers can work from closer to home instead of commuting out to Seattle, Tacoma, or the Eastside cities.