Meet Jan
A graduate of Douglass College at Rutgers University with a B.A. in Experimental Psychology, Jan taught in pre-school, kindergarten and Head Start in the New Brunswick Public Schools in New Jersey during in the mid-70’s, and also founded a girls’ soccer league and coached girls’ soccer teams.
Jan was also a small business owner, having owned and operated several Haagen-Dazs Ice Cream Shoppes between 1981 and 1991, and a political affairs consulting firm from 1991-1993.
She and her husband Noel, residents of Pioneer Square, have four sons and three grandsons. Her favorite form of relaxation is gardening in her Judkins P-Patch.
Civic Leadership:
From 1984 to her election to the City Council in 1993, Jan Drago established herself as a dedicated and effective organizer on behalf of homeless/housing issues and against drugs and other criminal activities in Downtown Seattle where she both lived (Pike Place Market and Denny Regrade neighborhoods) and worked. She served as president of the Denny Regrade Crime Prevention Council; chair of the Public Safety Committee for the Downtown Seattle Association; member of the West Precinct Crime Prevention Council; developer of a comprehensive strategy for King County mobilization against substance abuse for Drugs: Draw the Line; Chair, Seattle Cares; chair of the Mayor’s Homeless Task Force under Mayors Charley Royer and Norm Rice; co-chair of Governor Booth Gardner ’s Task Force on Homelessness; and member of the First Avenue Association.
On The Council:
Jan Drago has served as Seattle City Councilmember since January 1994, and is serving a second two-year term as Council President, a position to which her fellow Councilmembers elected her. In this role, she presides over all Council meetings and serves as the head of the Legislative Department.
As a Councilmember, Jan Drago has focused on business and economic development issues and job creation. For eight years she chaired Council committees concerned with business and economic development issues. She led Council action on Downtown Seattle’s revitalization, dramatically reversing the economic downturn of the early ‘90s and changing the face of Downtown Seattle.
After leading Council work on the redevelopment of South Downtown, she turned her focus on South Lake Union which is the center of a burgeoning biotech – life science industry and home to numerous award-winning scientists and researchers, including two Nobel Prize winners.
Drago chaired the powerful Finance, Budget and Business and Labor Committee from 1999-2003, steering the Council through four difficult budget cycles. Currently she chairs the Government Affairs and Labor Committee where she takes the lead for the Council in intergovernmental relations and labor issues. In addition to sitting on Council committees dealing with public utilities, housing and human services, and employee, police and fire pension issues, Drago chairs the Labor Relations Policy Committee and is a founding member of the Labor-Management Leadership Committee. The City of Seattle is considered a nation-wide leader in labor-management relations as a result of work begun on her watch ten years ago.
She represents the City Council on the Trade Development Alliance Executive Committee, the board of the Seattle Art Museum , the Seattle-King County Convention and Visitors Board, PortJobs, Mountains-to-Sound Greenway Trust, and the Seattle Sister Cities Coordinating Council. She serves as Council liaison to the Sister City Associations for Seattle-Galway ( Ireland ), Seattle-Haiphong ( Vietnam ), and Seattle-Chongqing ( China ).
Awards:
2004 – “Unsung Hero of the Arts” award – Presented by ArtsFund (formerly Corporate Council for the Arts)
2004 – In Appreciation of Continuous Friendship and Support – Presented by the Seattle-Sihanoukville Sister City Association
2004 – For Serving as a Role Model in Empowering Young Women as Leaders – Presented by Women of Color Empowered – Presented by Northwest Asian Weekly
2003 - Community Achievement Award – Presented by Community Psychiatric Clinic
2003 – Certificate of Appreciation – Presented by the Seattle Food Committee and the Meals Partnership Coalition
1995 - Community Improvement Award - Presented by Seattle Chinese/Chinatown Chamber of Commerce and International District Economic Association
1991 - Mayor’s Small Business Award - City of Seattle - Presented by Mayor Norm Rice
1990 - Neighborhood Partnership Award - Presented by First Avenue Association
1989 - St. Matthew Award - Presented by EMM/Northwest Harvest Food Bank
1988 - Seattle First Citizen Award - Presented by Mayor Charley Royer
Current and Past Community Involvement:
Mountains-to-Sound Greenway Trust Board 1997-2005
Trade Development Alliance Board 1994-2005
Seattle King County Convention & Visitors Board 2001-2005
Seattle Art Museum Board 2004-2005
Port Jobs Board 2002-2005
Sister Cities Coordinating Council Member 2000-2005
Sports and Events Council Board 1997-2001
Institute for Motivating Reading Board 1994-2001
Seattle Mayor's Homeless Task Force, Chair
Governor's Task Force on Homeless, Co-Chair
Denny Regrade Crime Prevention Council, President
Downtown Seattle Association Neighborhood Securtiy Task Force, Chair
Drugs: Draw the Line, Interim and Permanent Steering Committee
West Precinct Citizens' Advisory Council
Downtown Neighborhood District Council, Business Representative to City Neighborhood Council
First Avenue Association - member
Seattle Mayor's Small Business Task Force - member
Denny Regrade Business Association - Board
36th District Democrats - PCO, Executive Board
Denny Regrade Community Council - member
National Alliance to End Homelessness - member
Women in Unity - member
Washington Council on Crime Delinquency - Board
King County Women's Political Caucus - member
Organized girls' soccer league, coached team in Manalapan Township, New Jersey; chaired local parks and recreation commission
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PO BOX 94317, Seattle WA 98124
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