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Land Use Committee recommends confirmation of three Seattle Planning Commission appointees
Summary
The Land Use Committee voted 4-0 to recommend confirmation of three nominees — Mikaela Daffern (reappointment), Rebecca Bruhn and Julia Jannen Shields — to the Seattle Planning Commission; the committee will forward the nominations to full Council on June 24, 2025.
The Seattle City Council Land Use Committee voted to recommend confirmation of three nominees to the Seattle Planning Commission.
Chair Mark Solomon moved that the committee recommend confirmation of appointments 3186–3188 (a reappointment and two new appointments); Council member Rankin seconded the motion. The roll call recorded four votes in favor and none opposed, and the committee sent its recommendation to the full City Council for the June 24, 2025 meeting.
The nominees are Mikaela Daffern, currently co-chair of the Planning Commission and an affordable housing committee manager with King County’s Housing and Community Development Division, reappointed to a term through April 15, 2028; Rebecca Bruhn, a renter in Crown Hill and senior project manager for transit-oriented development at Sound Transit; and Julia Jannen Shields, King County’s inaugural regional planning equity and engagement program manager and board member of Homestead Community Land Trust.
Vanessa Murdoch, executive director of the Seattle Design Commission, introduced the nominees and described the Planning Commission as a 16-member independent volunteer advisory body that advises the Council, the mayor and city staff on land use, housing, transportation and livability. Nominees described their backgrounds and priorities for the commission, including affordable housing near transit, community-driven planning and equitable engagement.
Committee members asked candidates about the comprehensive plan and how the commission could better engage with Council and the Office of Planning and Community Development (OPCD) during long-range planning. Bruhn emphasized leveraging station-area investments to produce permanently affordable housing and increasing engagement with the commission during follow-up work after a comp-plan package is adopted. Shields highlighted funding community-based organizations to lead authentic engagement and preserving neighborhood history while planning for growth.
The committee clerk called the roll. Vice Chair Strauss, Council member Rink, Council member Rivera and Chair Solomon all voted to recommend confirmation. The committee’s recommendation will be forwarded to the full City Council on June 24, 2025, for final confirmation.
