After serving on the Mercer Island Planning Commission for the last four years, Ted Weinberg will put his hat in the ring for city council Position 4 in the November 2021 general election.

According to city site, positions 4, 2 and 6 are all subject to election in 2021. Those positions are currently held by Lisa Anderl, Salim Nice and Mayor Benson Wong, respectively.

“I’m running because I want to give back to the community that I love, and it’s given me so much over the years,” said longtime Island resident Weinberg, 52, who added that he’s open minded and enjoys listening to people and crafting legislation that is in the best interest of the Island.

Weinberg, whose family moved to the Island from Seattle when he was 12, noted that two of the main city issues at the forefront of his mind are fixing the underlying structural imbalance of the budget and maintaining funding for the vital mental health counselors at the schools.

During his time on the Planning Commission, Weinberg and his fellow members have helped the city work through complicated issues, including the comprehensive plan, the critical areas ordinance and the shoreline master plan, according to a press release.

While sitting on the Planning Commission, Weinberg has listened empathetically to each speaker.

“They’ve got their own unique perspective in the issue that we’re discussing at Planning Commission that particular day. (It) affects their life in some way, either in a positive or a negative way, and they really want us to know,” he said.

Mercer Island High School 1986 graduate Weinberg, who holds degrees in business from the University of Washington and architecture from the University of Virginia, has spent the last four years working as the portfolio manager for the city of Seattle Information Technology department. Weinberg and his wife have a passion for volunteering, and he serves on the boards of the Mercer Island Sister City Association and the Friends of Seward Park.

After living in Bellevue for three years during part of his 15-year career at Microsoft, Weinberg moved back to the Island in 1993 with his wife. The couple has a 26-year-old daughter and a 22-year-old son.

“What I love most about Mercer Island is intelligent, dedicated and compassionate people, and its quiet, safe and beautiful neighborhoods,” he said.