About Andrew
For Mount Vernon City Council
PHOTOS: (clockwise from left) Andrew with an award from The Friendship House for his volunteer service. Andrew paddling on Skagit River. Andrew with his puppy, “Jo Jo Potato.”
PHOTO: Andrew with an award from The Friendship House for his volunteer service.
Andrew has deep roots in Skagit County. His grandparents moved to the area in the early 1920s. His grandfather’s first job was a bookkeeper at The President Hotel in downtown Mount Vernon while he attended Skagit Valley College and Western Washington University.
Both of Andrew’s parents lived in Mount Vernon and worked in Skagit County as educators. He currently lives in the Hillcrest Neighborhood, just a few blocks from where his father grew up, and across town from his childhood home.
Since graduating from high school in 2011, he attended Skagit Valley Community College and then began an apprentice with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW Local 191) in 2013 and later became a journeyman electrician. He bought his first home in Mount Vernon shortly after starting his apprenticeship. In 2018 he became a journeyman electrician.
Andrew has a strong belief in supporting working families through living wage jobs because of his experience with an apprenticeship, and also believes in highlighting alternative career pathways for the same reason.
He now works directly for his union, IBEW Local 191, advocating for workers and union members in Olympia so other people might have access to the same opportunities he has had.
“My journey through the apprenticeship, becoming a journeyman, and then becoming a homeowner myself, really highlighted the importance living wage jobs have in our community as a pathway to homeownership and fulfilling the American dream.”
Andrew says becoming a homeowner and small housing provider made him aware of the acute need for affordable housing in our community. This, in turn, inspired him to begin volunteering as an electrician for Habitat For Humanity and then join the Mount Vernon City Planning Commission.
“There is one moment in particular that has always really stood out for me. I was interviewing people for a 240-square-foot tiny home, and a small family applied. It would have been a mother, father, infant, and dog. I asked them why they were applying for such a small space, and they said it was all they could afford. I have dozens of stories just like that, and I began to feel really helpless and wanted to have more of an impact than just my home could provide.”
Since beginning his work with Skagit Habitat for Humanity, he has made connections with other non-profits in our area and is currently volunteering with Friendship House and Welcome Home Skagit. One of the projects he is the proudest of is the Friendship House bathroom remodel, where he coordinated and performed the drafting/ submitting of the blueprints and the demolition and reinstallation of the electrical and plumbing. The project he is currently working on is the procurement and renovation of a travel trailer for Welcome Home Skagit, a non-profit dedicated to providing safe overnight parking to unhoused individuals.
In his spare time, Andrew enjoys building his own kayaks, spending time on the water, and playing with his golden retriever puppy, “Jo Jo Potato.”