Longtime Ballard District Council Coordinator and Ballard resident Rob Mattson is bidding adieu to Ballard and the council, as he announced in a letter to the community. He will retire from his position with the city of Seattle on Nov. 1, and is moving to Whidbey Island the next day.
Mattson has worked for the city since 1971, and has spent most of that time as the city’s representative to Ballard and other northwest Seattle neighborhoods. He says his decision to leave his job and the neighborhood was not an easy one, but that it’s in the best interest of his family.
Mattson and his wife plan to relocate to Oak Harbor on Whidbey Island, a community he compares to Ballard. “Oak Harbor is a small city of 24,000 souls; in many respects, not too terribly different from the Ballard community whose heritage, economy, and people I hold dear.”
From Mattson:
“I am grateful for the opportunity to have served the public over these four plus decades and I appreciate the care and wisdom each of you demonstrate as our lives have intersected.
After November 1st, I will be a free man! Although I won’t be pursuing another career, it’s possible you might find me at a City of Oak Harbor City Council meeting or writing cranky letters to the local blog or newspaper. For now, I am very content with plans to live a quiet life; occasionally setting those crab pots off the shore of Whidbey Island.”
