Councilmember Ben Zarlingo was elected in 2022 to represent District 5 which covers all of the Silver Lake neighborhood and portions of the Pinehurst-Beverly Park, Cascade View and Twin Peaks neighborhoods. He was born in western Colorado and grew up on a farm and ranch. Ben has lived in the City of Everett since the 1980s, moving here to be part of a new division of Hewlett-Packard. He has worked as a radio announcer and has an engineering degree from Colorado State University. He started his own small technology consulting company after retiring. He is a co-author of a book on cellular/mobile phone and data network testing. Ben has been an active member of the Silver Lake Neighborhood Association since 1991 and has been an officer in several positions (including co-chair) since 1995.
Ben enjoys volunteering opportunities, which have included middle school math tutoring and teaching a few class sessions. He was also a robotics coach for a local middle school. He has volunteered for forest restoration and cleanup activities with Forterra and has also been a volunteer for the City of Everett’s portion of the lake monitoring program with Snohomish County Surface Water Management. Today, Ben donates his time to high school speech/debate club fundraising. In his spare time, he enjoys sea kayaking, bicycling, carpentry and welding.
Ben’s main focus as a Councilmember is to understand the issues and priorities of our community members and to become deeply familiar with the situations the city faces. He wants to understand the resources and tradeoffs surrounding public safety, a sustainable budget, housing, growth and density, job opportunity and business growth and recreation resources such as parks and public spaces. Ben would like to make Everett a healthy and welcoming base upon which our community members can build the life they choose.
Former boards and committees:
- Former member of Snohomish County Board of Health and its Public Health Program Policy Committee
- Former chair of Infrastructure and Transportation Committee
- Former member of Intergovernmental Relations Committee, Planning Committee
Everett at Work