Position 3
Term Expires: 12/31/13
psweet@ci.kirkland.wa.us
425-587-3534 (Phone)
425-587-3019 (Fax)
Penny Sweet began her first term on the Kirkland City Council in January 2010. She has lived in Kirkland since 1985 and served as the Chair of the Market Neighborhood Association from 2007–2009.
Current City Council committee assignments: Public Safety Committee, Lodging Tax Advisory Committee (Chair), and Disability Board.
Regional representation: Cascade Water Alliance.
About Deputy Mayor Sweet: Penny Sweet grew up in Seattle where she attended Roosevelt High School and Shoreline Community College before beginning a career in Health Care. She participated in numerous management and leadership courses throughout her career concentrating on customer service, process and quality Improvement and leadership. She trained with the Baptist Health Care Leadership Institute, the University of Washington School of Business, Antioch University and is a graduate of the inaugural class of Leadership Eastside in 2008.
She retired in 2007 as an Associate Director of Business Operations for Group Health Cooperative. Over the course of her 31-year career with Group Health, she managed business operations for five outpatient medical Centers in Everett and Monroe and for the Hospitals and Specialty Centers in Seattle and Redmond since 1998. She was a member of the Group Health Community Action Teams in Seattle and on the Eastside responsible for outreach and building community relations.
Council Member Sweet moved to Kirkland in 1985 where she and her husband, Larry Springer, have owned and operated The Grape Choice, a retail wine shop in downtown Kirkland for 25 years. She is a member of the Chamber of Commerce and sits on its Public Policy Committee. She is on the board of directors of the Kirkland Downtown Association. She was a member of the Kirkland Downtown Action Team. She is a member of Kirkland Art Center where she served on the Board of Directors from 1987 until 1991. She served on the Kirkland Library Arts Committee and is a member of FOLK (Friends of the Library of Kirkland) She is a lifetime member of the Kirkland Heritage Society and a member of The Audubon Society and The Sierra Club.
In 1999 she founded Celebrate Kirkland, Inc., a non-profit organization that organizes and manages the Kirkland 4th of July Celebration. She continues as president of the organization. In 2004 and 2005 she served as chair of events on the Kirkland Centennial Steering Committee.
In 2000, she was the recipient of the Anne G. Owen Award for Community Service presented by the Kirkland Chamber of Commerce. She has been recognized by the Kirkland Chamber as a “Friend of Kirkland” in 2000 and in 2005 received the President’s Award.