Councilmember Paul Charbonneau

Paul Charbonneau was elected to council in 2021 as the youngest-ever councilmember in Newcastle and first to grow up in the city. 

Paul is a graduate of local Hazen high school and has worked as an Assistant Coach for the Boys & Girls Wrestling team there since 2017. Paul also helps referee and run local wrestling meets at Risdon middle school and in the Renton School District. Paul graduated from Occidental College with a B.A. in Political Science and Public Health, serving as Occidental's Student Body President in 2016 and competing on Occidental's NCAA Football and Track & Field teams. 

Paul was selected and studied as a national public policy fellow in 2019 under the PPIA (Public Policy & International Affairs) program at the University of Michigan Gerald Ford School of Public Policy, a program that seeks to help people of color and underrepresented groups prepare for careers in public service through full scholarships to graduate school. Paul serves as a mentor to current fellows at the University of Washington Evans' School of Public Policy PPIA Program. Paul is a certified peer counselor in the state of Washington and formerly served as a young adult support group facilitator, and led mental health education programs in schools, to parents,  local organizations, and with law enforcement. Paul has served on the boards of both the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) for Eastside King County, and on the Public Policy committee for NAMI Washington. 

Paul is a self-proclaimed "huge policy nerd" and is very grateful to have come back home to Newcastle at the start of the pandemic and serve his city as a councilmember. You can find Paul as a frequent user of our local trails, and he hopes you'll stop and say hi or reach out to him over email at [email protected]!

Committees:

• Newcastle Economic & Community Development Committee
• K4C King County-Cities Climate Collaboration Representative
• Sound Cities Association - Public Issues Committee Representative
• King County Regional Transit Committee
• Mental Illness & Drug-Dependency Advisory Committee