Jenn Hernandez

By now, your ballots should have arrived. Our community works best when everyone participates, so please, make sure to vote. Voting is the most powerful way to make your voice heard.

Local elections shape the community we live in every day. The streets we drive on, the parks we enjoy, the decisions about growth, safety, and culture…all are influenced by who we elect at the local level. This year, I’m proud to support Adam Olen and Amy McHenry for Mayor. Adam has served our city well in his current role, and Amy brings years of experience and dedication as a councilmember. I believe both will continue to lead with integrity and vision.

I’m also asking for your support and your vote.

For the past two years, I’ve served on our City’s Cultural Commission, working to support the arts, beautify our town, and build a stronger, more connected community. I’m running for City Council to continue that work. To be a voice for thoughtful development, transparent government, and advocacy for underrepresented groups in our city.

No matter who you support: please vote.

If you support a party or candidate who isn’t on the ballot, write them in. If you’re undecided, take time to learn. And if you disagree with all the choices, returning a blank ballot still counts as participation: it shows you’re paying attention, and that matters.

Your voice matters. And your vote is your voice.

Thank you for reading, thank you for voting, and thank you for being part of our town’s future.

Endorsements matter. They’re more than names on a list – they’re a commitment of trust. When someone endorses a candidate, they’re saying, “This person represents my values and will work hard for our community.”

I’m honored to have earned the endorsement of the following respected leaders in my run for City Council:

• Mayor Amy Ockerlander, City of Duvall

• Councilmember Adam Olen, City of Duvall

• Councilmember Carol Kufeldt, City of Duvall

• Co-Chair Lissa Guillet, City of Duvall Cultural Commission

• Comissioner Dianne Brudnicki, City of Duvall Cultural Commission

• Comissioner Brande Damiana, City of Duvall Cultural Commission

• Councilmember Paul Charbonneau, City of Newcastle

As we head into election season, I hope their trust in me helps build your trust, too. I’m ready to represent you and work for a stronger, more connected Duvall.

Thank you for your support!

I moved to Duvall from Austin, Texas ten years ago. At first it was because I had friends here I could couch surf with while I found work, but after finding it, I had a choice: Stay in Duvall, or move to Redmond. I stayed in Duvall. Why? It’s a great town. Five minutes from mountainous forests. Five minutes from urban conveniences. And a nice little down home downtown, full of locally owned businesses and some amazing art. As a cartoonist and writer myself, the art scene appealed to me, and was one of the reasons I not only stayed, but I became the chair of the Duvall Cultural Commission.

That’s not to say that living here has been easy. As a single woman, finding affordable housing here has been more luck than anything. Whether it’s a lack of starter homes, or rental availability, finding housing here when you’re not a dual income family can be rough. That means that families looking for homes, won’t be coming to Duvall. Or that families where the kids have moved out, don’t have homes to downsize to. We lose long time residents, and potential newer ones as well. One of the things I am dedicated to is finding ways to make sure that housing becomes more affordable throughout the city. Likely by asking for the building of smaller homes along side our larger ones.

For now, our city continues to grow, with an influx of residents looking to live here because of the conveniences I’d mentioned before, the rural foothills and the urban conveniences. We’ve had many housing usit open up on our southern and east end, and more are likely to be built. One of the concerns I hear from residents is that with all these new residential area, there’s a risk of diluting its character. One of the goals of the Duvall Cultural Commission was to determine the towns character and I believe that we can have the best of both worlds. A growing prosperous city, with many parks, natural areas, historical areas created, marked or protected that all reflect the history and character of our town.

One of those characteristics is Duvall as an “art town.” From the Duvall Trolls, to our carved planks on downtown, the town has a history of being a center for the arts. As Chair of the Cultural Commission, we’ve worked hard to begin refreshing, restoring and creating new art pieces for our town. The quirky trolls on the Woodinville-Duvall bridge has been restored, the wooden planks on Main Street are being refreshed with new planks, and we have murals, statues and even performances coming down the line. All to keep the city’s cultural arts thriving and alive, one of it’s core characteristics.

My goals are to keep Duvall a prosperous town, safe and affordable for everyone who’d like to be here, maintaining it’s character as it grows, and to keeps the arts alive and thriving. I’d like your support in doing that. Thank you for voting.

They’re finally up!

This was the first project the newly reformed Duvall Cultural Comission put together, in our first meeting. Our Public Works Director came in talking about new signage needed in the town, and after his report, the Chair (me) had no idea what to do. What can I say, it was my first report, on the first meeting in my first government role. Ever.

And I suggested, well, we could design the signage. Cause it was the only thing I could think of what to do because I was a roadgeek, I knew AASHTO signage specifics, and I’ve always had a thing for roadsigns for some odd reason.

I worked from the suggestions they made to come up with a nice design, using the colors and the “park” icon on the City of Duvall logo. Then Crystal and I worked together, riffing off my designs (one for big signs, done by Crystal, one for small signs done by me) and presented them to the other comissioner for suggestions and edits.

From there, a few colors were changed and a golden divider line was removed from the smaller signage, but the designs remained essentially the same, which you can see in the first picture.

And then some time passed as the signs obviously went through revisions at the Public Works Department. But they essentially stayed true to the core design.

But that was all of us in the Cultural Comission. Our first assignement! And the signs will be up for years.

It’s August, which means it’s time I geared up my campaign for a vote in November. First up:

Want a sign? Sure you do. Email me at jenn.c.hernandez@jenn.c.hernandez@gmail.com if you’re in the Duvall City Limits (or thereabouts) and would like a sign to show your support for my City Council Campaign!

Designed by the lovely and talented Gregory Jamiel.

Are you going to any of the Summerstage concerts this summer? They’re a great way to spend an evening (even a work evening!) with friends and family, and get to know your fellow residents. The food trucks aren’t bad, either.

Summerstage is one of the great things that makes Duvall a unique place to live. In all the towns I’ve lived in over the years, I’ve not seen a series of community concerts like this, and I find it a wonderful way to wind down on a work night.

Something I’ve spearheaded on the Duvall Cultural comission is a similar smaller series of events, taking place at the newly expanded stage in Depot Park. Much like Summerstage, it would be a series of music (among other) events that would play out for free on a weekend. Music, plays, poetry. Another great way to spend an hour or two while walking the rail-trail or visiting the depot.

If you’re at Summerstage, and you catch me there, say hello! Happy to talk about what I plan for the city, what I’ve done for the city, or just groove to the music.

If you’d like to check out Summerstage, you can find more information on it here: https://www.duvallwa.gov/492/SummerStage

June is Pride Month, and as a member of the LGBT Community, Pride has a very special meaning for me. I grew up in Texas and came out as transgender while the AIDS epidemic killed our community mentors. I began my political life by stepping into the leadership void sadly left, organizing community events, art, and memorials. In the years since, I came to know Pride as a celebration of survival, and an opportunity for education and good-faith understanding.

Duvall is a welcoming and tolerant community. After leaving an increasingly hostile Texas, the general open-mindedness in this town convinced me to stay. I knew this was my home when the town rallied together after the Pride Wall came down and flew pride flags everywhere from private homes to City Hall. As chair of Duvall’s Cultural Commission, it was a pleasure to recommission—with the help of many of our town’s amazing LGBTQ citizens—the Pride Wall as Axton Burton’s “How Far We’ve Come” art that now graces City Hall.

My goal on Duvall’s City Council is to represent the people of the city. Being Mexican American and the T in LGBT are all important parts of the perspective I will bring to the council, giving me the empathy and experience to advocate for our under-represented groups.

Perspective is only so useful until it guides action. The most important thing is to use that experience to represent the concerns of everyone in the city. Your concerns. Your needs. Your suggestions.

My name is Jenn Hernandez, a fifty year old professional writer and cartoonist who has been living in Duvall for eleven years. In those eleven years, I’ve come to love My Little Town and its unique mix of urban, rural and artistic life. As the chair of the City of Duvall’s Cultural Commission, I’ve tried to balance that mix, leaning heavily into the art aspect of the job, but as well as helping define budgets and logistics with the City’s help.

I was born in San Antonio, Texas in the mid 70s, brought up on a steady stream of Star Trek, Star Wars and Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny cartoons. This led to a love of reading and art. I began writing when I was thirteen, and cartooning shortly after that. I joined the Cartoon/Fantasy Organization and worked to get into the world of comics while working with a myriad of other artists. But, to be realistic, comics wouldn’t pay the bills though, so I worked the next thirty years as a technical support and customer service rep, until finally landing a job that pays me to write.

After various moves to Austin in Texas, and then Renton, Bellevue and Redmond, I settled in Duvall.

With an interest in art, I got involved chairing the city’s Cultural Commission. The Commission has taught me what the city’s character is, and given me a grasp of the history of our town, while also beautifying the city refreshing older, and commissioning new, art. A mind-set I believe I can take with me to City Council to help guide the future of our town. I’ve worked with the City’s staff for over a year, learning how to coordinate with the city on projects and budgets. Through the Commission, I’ve learned a lot about what it takes to work with the city on your behalf.

I hope I can count on your vote to help get that future started.