Position 5, one of four Sammamish City Council seats up for election this year, will see a primary in August.

Attorney Ryika Hooshangi, software engineer Rituja Indapure and senior financial analyst Chris Ross have registered for the Position 5 seat.

Hooshangi

Hooshangi, 37, has lived in Sammamish for five years with her husband. They have a 4-year-old and baby on the way, due in November.

She has a bachelor’s degree in political science form George Washington University and a law degree in international law from Catholic University.

She served in the U.S. government as an attorney and diplomat for the Department of State for more than 10 years. She was a fellow at the Brooking Institution in the U.S. Senate and the Senate Finance Committee. Originally from the Eastside, Hooshangi traveled to the East Coast for school. In 2012, she and her husband decided to move back and start their family. Since returning, she’s continued her work as an attorney and taught at the University of Washington.

“My entire career has been bringing diverse interests toward a common goal,” she said. “That’s really what we need [on the Sammamish City Council]. We need someone who can bring people together.”

Her platform focuses on a “family-first” agenda.

“For me, I feel like right now my demographic is not represented on the City Council,” she said. She said the council doesn’t know the issues that matter most to young families, issues like public safety.

From drugs in schools to car prowls, her top priority will be to maintain the safety of the community. She would see more anti-drug campaigns in neighborhoods and schools.

Balancing growth with the environment and expanding infrastructure to ease traffic is also a priority, Hooshangi said. She said Sammamish needs to work with its neighbors to come up with creative solutions.

“I’m not going to pretend to say I have all the answers right now,” she said. But she said she has the passion to come up with solutions. “I’ve seen the right way and not so right way to create policy and I want to bring that experience to the Sammamish City Council.”

Indapure

Indapure, 44, has lived in the Klahanie neighborhood with her family for 15 years.

She received her bachelor’s degree in English literature from Sir Parashurambhau College in India, her bachelor of laws from Indian Law Society Law School in India, and her master of laws from the University of Nottingham in the U.K.

Originally from India, Indapure moved to the states in 1997.

She’s been a software engineer with local high tech companies and currently works as a senior analyst with Costco. She was on the Seattle Globalist board and part of the Speakers Bureau of Humanities Washington. She’s a regular volunteer with Tasveer working to promote arts and culture throughout King County, particularly with underrepresented and diverse communities, she said. She also volunteers with United Way, Teen Feed, local schools and other nonprofits.

In 2015, she was an alternate to the Sammamish Arts Commission. She’s been attending City Council meetings and speaking with city staff to keep up to date on the current issues.

“I’ve been involved in the community for a long time,” she said. She’s seen the city change, including the city’s demographic, which she hopes to represent on the council.

She said that what matters most to the community — protecting and being a good steward of Sammamish’s natural habitats, bringing more transit options to the plateau to combat traffic and maintaining the character of the community and diverse neighborhoods by supporting sensible growth — drives her platform.

She wants to see more affordable housing on the plateau and wants to create a dedicated human services department in the city. She also wants to see the creation of a shuttle service to transport residents within the city.

“I really feel I embody the values of this community,” she said. “I am very passionate about being a good listener. … I really believe in collaboration.”

Ross

Ross, 55, has lived in Sammamish for seven years with his wife and raised two of his four children on the plateau.

He has a bachelor’s degree in business with concentrations in accounting and finance plus a minor in economics from Washington State University. He also has a master’s in business administration from Seattle University and is a graduate of the Stanford Executive Program, which he was sent to by his employer, the Boeing Company.

Ross is a senior financial analyst with Boeing and is responsible for planning and integrating Boeing’s long-term real property capital requirements. Ross began his career with Boeing but left for five years to be a chief financial officer of an office relocation company, which served companies like Microsoft. As a chief financial officer, he said a lot of what he did was cost-plus analysis.

Ross is a member of the Kiwanis Club of Sammamish and Citizens for Sammamish. Additionally, he said that he regularly attends and watches city meetings. “I try to stay in touch with the issues throughout the multitude of city meetings in Sammamish,” he said.

He said he was encouraged to run for council by several people in the community and believes his background in finances and long-rang planning will be beneficial to and “well suited” for the council.

“New skills are needed on the Sammamish City Council,” he said. “I am the only candidate with over 30 years of professional financial management experience.”

His platform focuses on traffic, the environment and financial management.

“We’ve got to make smart choices,” he said. “I think it’s just critical we have a council members that carefully select opportunities that have high impact on improving traffic, sustaining our infrastructure and preserving our environmental character.”

Regarding traffic, he said it’s imperative to work with neighboring cities.

Ryika Hooshangi, 37, has lived in Sammamish for five years with her husband. They have a 4-year-old and baby on theway, due in November. She’s running for Sammamish City Council Position 5, which will see a primary in August.

Rituja Indapure, 44, has lived in the Klahanie neighborhood with her family for 15 years. She’s running for Sammamish City Council Position 5, which will see a primary in August.

Chris Ross, 55, has lived in Sammamish for seven years with his wife and raised two of his four children on the plateau. He’s running for Sammamish City Council Position 5, which will see a primary in August.