Staff
If you are a Washington State city or county official or staff member, and you have an inquiry for the MRSC consultant staff, please E-mail your message to mrsc@mrsc.org, and your request will be routed to the appropriate staff member. If you send your inquiry directly to a staff member who is out of the office, your response will be delayed until that individual returns.
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Receptionist - Receptionist@mrsc.org
Receptionist
Peter Breen - pbreen@mrsc.org
Library and Information Services Assistant
Peter joined the MRSC staff in May 2006 as the library clerk and was promoted to library and information services assistant in August 2007. He graduated from Grinnell College in May 2005 with a BA in History. Peter is responsible for library purchases, requesting documents from local governments, and assisting staff in maintaining, updating and creating web pages.
John Carpita - jcarpita@mrsc.org
Public Works Consultant
John Carpita joined MRSC in January, 1996. He has a B.S. and M.S. degree in Civil Engineering from Montana State University. A registered professional engineer since 1972, he is currently registered in Washington. John has had a widely varied 38-year career as a consultant, county engineer, city engineer and project manager. Prior to MRSC, he was project manager for two large roadway and bridge improvement projects with the City of Issaquah combining TIB funds, FHWA funds and local improvement districts. With MRSC, John is a resource for engineering design, purchasing and bidding issues, contract document preparation, construction contract issues, local improvement districts, sewer, water, storm drainage and solid waste issues, as well as resource conservation.
Judith Cox - jcox@mrsc.org
Finance Consultant
Judy began working at MRSC in March 1991. For six years, she was the Urban Economist at the City of Seattle Office of Management and Budget. Her routine duties included revenue forecasting and cash management. She also directed special projects such as presentations to bond rating agencies, measuring the public benefits of the Sonics and the Mariners, analyzing the financial history and long-range plans of major arts organizations, evaluating the benefits and costs of a new city hall, and serving as the mayor's advisor for the governor's 1988 tax reform committee.
Judy was the Director of Undergraduate Programs in the Department of Economics at the University of Washington and taught courses in economic theory, public finance, natural resource, environmental economics, and international economics. She earned her undergraduate degree in history at Northwestern University and completed all the course work for a Ph.D. in economics at Stanford University.
Lynne De Merritt - ldemerritt@mrsc.org
Senior Research Consultant
Lynne joined MRSC in the summer of 1973 as the Center's first professional librarian. She managed MRSC's library until 1998. Lynne has a Master's degree in Political Science from Western Washington University, a Master of Librarianship degree from the Unversity of Washington. She also has a Certificate in Public Relations and a Certificate in Web Content Development from the University of Washington Extension. In 1994 she received the Council of Planning Librarians Holway Jones Distinguished Service Award for outstanding contributions in the field of planning librarianship. Lynne's current focus is the development of Web pages and other publications.
Erich Dewald - edewald@mrsc.org
Library Technician
Erich's role with MRSC's Library includes circulating library loans and documents requested by municipal officials, and general maintenance of the library's collections. Erich currently resides and is a native of Kitsap County. His most recent experience with libraries include work as a Reference Associate and Outreach Specialist with the Kitsap Regional Library System.
Jim Doherty - jdoherty@mrsc.org
Legal Consultant
Jim Doherty joined MRSC in July 1993. He has a B.A. degree from Wheeling Jesuit College, an M.A. degree from St. John's College in Santa Fe, and his J.D. degree from Northwestern School of Law, Portland. In addition to clerking in two Oregon city attorney offices, Jim has been an assistant city attorney for two Washington cities. His legal career also includes stints as a public defender, private attorney, legislative counsel and assistant attorney general. The latter two positions were with the Government of American Samoa, in the South Pacific.
Don Edlin - dedlin@mrsc.org
Web Developer/E-government Specialist
Don joined MRSC 's information services staff in March 2002 in the capacity of Web developer/E-government Specialist. Don is responsible for Web application and database programming. He also assists local governments to implement their own e-government programs. A graduate of Whitworth College, Don has previously worked for Safeco, Internet start-up companies, and Boeing.
Connie Elliot - celliot@mrsc.org
Research Associate
Connie began working at MRSC in December 1989. She was raised in Yakima and graduated from Washington State University with a B.A. degree in Elementary Education. Following graduation, she taught one year in Mountlake Terrace and then moved to California where she taught for 16 years. After returning to the Northwest, she worked part-time at various jobs until joining the MRSC staff. In addition to her inquiry research duties, Connie is editor of MRSC's newsletter, Municipal Research News.
Susan C. Enger, A.I.C.P. - senger@mrsc.org
Planning Consultant
Sue began working at MRSC in February 1991 to assist both cities and counties with planning and growth management information. Through her diverse experiences with small, medium, and large cities and counties, she has developed an understanding of the needs of both urban and rural communities. Most recently, Sue was a community plans project manager for King County. Sue has also directed planning departments for Jackson, Wyoming and Frisco, Colorado. She has prepared a growth management plan in another state and applied Washington's new Growth Management Act while preparing a community plan for King County. She authored six guide books for the Washington Department of Community Trade and Economic Development on various growth management topics. She has also prepared plans, policies, and regulations on a variety of topics including land use, housing, environmental protection, parks and open space, and downtown design. Sue earned her master's degree in urban planning from the University of Washington.
Ellen Hutchinson - ehutchinson@mrsc.org
MRSC Rosters Manager
Ellen J. Hutchinson joined MRSC in January 2008 as the MRSC Rosters Manager. Her role at MRSC is to market the benefits of the shared Small Public Works & Consultant Rosters - MRSC Rosters to Washington State municipalities. Outreach includes presentations, conference booths, and direct assistance for both municipalities and contractors/consultants listed on the Rosters. She has an M.A. in Social Change Marketing from Antioch University Seattle and a B.A. in Political Science/Environmental Studies from Western Washington University. Prior to MRSC, Ellen worked on the Energy Star program in Washington, DC, Earth Economics in Seattle, and in different capacities with nonprofit organizations.
Pam James - pjames@mrsc.org
Legal Consultant
Pam came to MRSC in 1993 after eight years as an assistant city attorney for the City of Seattle. Her legal career also includes work as a special prosecutor for the fraud division of the King County Prosecutor's Office, and as a judicial clerk for the Anchorage Superior Court. She has a J.D. degree from the University of Puget Sound and a B.A. degree from American University in Washington, D.C. Prior to law school, Pam was a staff assistant for Congressman Norm Dicks and for former Congressman Lloyd Meeds. Pam is also a volunteer attorney for the King County Bar Association.
Byron Katsuyama - bkatsuyama@mrsc.org
Public Policy Consultant
Byron began work at the Center as a Research Assistant in July 1978. He holds a B.A. degree in Political Science from the University of Washington and an M.P.A. from the University of Washington's Graduate School of Public Affairs. After completing his M.P.A., Byron joined MRSC's consulting staff as a Public Policy Consultant concentrating on municipal administration and policy analysis. Byron is responsible for research in such areas as forms of government, strategic planning, performance measurement, and local government management. In addition to his consulting duties, Byron also maintains the "Focus" section of MRSC's Web site and is editor of our "In Focus" and "Ask MRSC" e-newsletters. He also coordinates our HR, Planning, Finance, and Council/Commission Advisor columns. In his own community of Kirkland, Byron also serves as a member of the city's planning commission.
Marcie M. Klobucher - mklobucher@mrsc.org
Controller
Marcie became a member of the MRSC staff in April 1990. She received a B.A. degree in Business Administration from Washington State University, passed the Uniform C.P.A. Exam, and subsequently completed the experience necessary to obtain her C.P.A. license. This experience includes 3 years of public accounting, specializing in auditing and tax preparation for nonprofit clients. Marcie is responsible for the Center's budgeting and finance.
Donita Knutson - dknutson@mrsc.org
Executive Assistant
Donita joined MRSC in February 1993. As Executive Assistant she assists the Executive Director with various special projects, and handles arrangements for the Executive Committee and Board of Directors. She coordinates the conference preparation and other services that we provide to WCMA and WSAMA.
Joe Levan - jlevan@mrsc.org
Legal Consultant
Joe joined MRSC in November 2007. He most recently was the in-house City Attorney for Maple Valley. Prior to that he worked for two different municipal law firms through which he was the Assistant City Attorney for Maple Valley, Sammamish, and Duvall and provided litigation and a range of other services to several Washington cities. Joe also worked as a legal consultant and as part of the in-house legal team for Sound Transit. He also has served cities in a non-attorney capacity, including as the Interim Assistant City Manager for Maple Valley and as Special Projects Analyst for Burien. Early in his career, Joe was a legislative and congressional aide for three members of the U.S. Congress, including Maria Cantwell and Jolene Unsoeld. He has a J.D. degree and two B.A. degrees from Seattle University.
Pat Mason - pmason@mrsc.org
Senior Legal Consultant
Pat began working for MRSC in March 1976 as a legal consultant. He is a native of Seattle and graduated from the University of Washington in 1971. He also received his J.D. degree from the University of Washington in 1975. Pat supervises the consultant staff and oversees the work program for the consultants.
Bob Meinig - bmeinig@mrsc.org
Legal Consultant
Bob began working at MRSC in September 1989. He has a law degree from the University of Puget Sound and a B.A. degree from Duke University. Prior to becoming an attorney, Bob worked as a professional photographer. Following law school, he worked for one year as a judicial clerk for Judge Edward Reed at the Washington Court of Appeals, Division II. After his clerkship, Bob was in private practice with a small Seattle firm specializing in land use and environmental law.
Lynn Karl Nordby - lnordby@mrsc.org
Public Policy and Management Consultant
Lynn joined MRSC after over 30 years in local government management and 4 years as senior project manager/principal consultant with a major public sector financial consulting firm. Lynn's public sector management experience includes virtually all municipal services including the operation of a wide variety of municipal utilities and enterprises such as water, sewer, solid waste, natural gas, cemetery, parking and storm water. Lynn received his BA in Political Science from UCLA and a Master of Public Administration from the University of Puget Sound. He is also a Credentialed Manager through the ICMA Voluntary Credentialing program.
Quinn Robinson - qrobinson@mrsc.org
Web/Network Administrator
Quinn began work at the Center in November 2003. Quinn received a B.A. degree in History at Brigham Young University. He also earned an undergraduate minor in Computers in which he focused on Web development and multimedia production. Quinn continued his studies at BYU's Marriott School of Management, where he earned a Masters degree in Public Administration with a graduate minor in Information Systems Management. He also worked at an investor education company as web developer and network administrator. As the MRSC Webmaster and Network Administrator, Quinn has responsibility for the day-to-day maintenance of the MRSC Web site along with other MRSC and local government information services duties.
Holly Stewart - hstewart@mrsc.org
Desktop Publishing Specialist
Holly joined MRSC in April of 1989. She is a native Washingtonian. Holly began her computer career while still in high school at the Sno-Isle Vocational Skills Center. Holly works to maximize MRSC's office automation by using her expert word processing skills. Holly is responsible for creating and publishing all of MRSC's publications, including the ever-popular Directory of Washington City & Town Officials and the Municipal Research News newsletter.
Paul Sullivan - psullivan@mrsc.org
Legal Consultant
Paul worked at MRSC between 1983 and 1992 and in May 1999 rejoined the Center as a legal consultant. He has a law and an undergraduate degree from the University of Washington. Paul most recently served as Ellensburg City Attorney and was an assistant city attorney for Vancouver; he twice was employed as a staff member with the Seattle City Council.
Carol Tobin - ctobin@mrsc.org
Planning Consultant
Carol has a background as a planner for local government as well as being a professional librarian. She has graduate degrees in urban planning and library and information science from the University of Washington. Her undergraduate degree is in fine arts from Middlebury College. Carol has provided planning and historic preservation consulting services in the Seattle area since 1985. Prior to that she worked as a community planner for King County. Carol is a member of Seattle's city-wide design review board and previously served on the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board. Carol is the author of "Downtown Seattle Walking Tours," "Seattle's Waterfront: The Walker's Guide to the History of Elliott Bay," and numerous planning publications.
Sandra Vong - svong@mrsc.org
Accountant
Sandra began working at MRSC in March 1998. She graduated from Central Washington University with a B.S. degree in Accounting and Finance. She has full charge accounting responsibilities for the center, as well as the two Professional Associations, WCMA and WSAMA. Sandra also handles the education training registration and maintains the membership database for the Washington Finance Officers Association.
Fred Ward - fward@mrsc.org
Manager of Library & Information Services
Since 1998, Fred has managed MRSC's Library & Information Services team which provides research support to the MRSC legal and policy staff and directly to local officials in the state of Washington. He and his team are responsible for the center's library/Web services as well as the internal computer network. After receiving the Master of Librarianship degree from the University of Washington in 1988, Fred began work at the center in the capacity of Assistant Librarian. In 1990, after completing a certificate program in computer management, he became the center's first Information Technology Specialist, and in 1998 assumed management of the newly combined Library & Information Services unit. Fred received a B.A. degree in Philosophy and Mathematics from the University of Hartford and earned an M.A. degree in sociology (demographic research methods) at the University of Michigan where he held an NICHD fellowship at the Population Studies Center.
Rich Yukubousky - ryukubousky@mrsc.org
Executive Director
Rich has served as the Executive Director of the Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington since July 1990. Prior to that he served as the City of Seattle's Office for Long Range Planning Director between 1985 and 1990 where he was responsible for preparing plans to address a number of controversial land use, transportation and environmental issues. Notable accomplishments during his tenure included the completion of a comprehensive downtown land use and transportation plan, open space policies leading to the purchase of greenbelts and other sensitive open spaces, resolution of long standing conflicts over multi family land use policies and zoning, and a water quality action plan for Lake Union and Ship Canal. Rich has also consulted on citizen participation, neighborhood planning, and transportation analysis for the city of Seattle, US Department of Transportation, and universities in Wisconsin and Michigan. Rich has more than 25 years experience in public policy and administration. He holds a B.S. degree in Civil Engineering, an M.S. degree in Transportation Planning and Engineering, and Ph.D. degree in Urban Planning.
Erica Zwick - ezwick@mrsc.org
Technical Services Librarian
Erica joined the MRSC library staff in May 2000. Her primary responsibilites are fulfilling research and reference requests, acquisition and organization of materials for the MRSC Library and maintenance of pages on MRSC's Web site. She received a Master of Librarianship from the University of Washington and a BA in English from the State University of New York at New Paltz. Erica worked as law librarian in a Seattle firm for nine years. She worked as a technical editor and software support specialist at Book Publishing Company, a publisher of municipal codes.
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