Elect LaTrisha Suggs

Meet LaTrisha

My great-grandmother, grandmother and mother were all born in Port Angeles (Cook-Kardonsky Family).  I am a proud Jamestown S’Klallam Tribal Citizen. I come from a line of leaders, my great Aunt Annie Balch served on Jamestown S’Klallam Tribal Council, and my mother served 16 years on Jamestown S’Klallam Tribal Council. My ties to the community are generational. I have witnessed local changes that include the logging boom/bust, racism when bumper stickers read “Save a Salmon, Kill an Indian”, salmon habitat declines that spurred local habitat restoration, population growth, economic ups and downs, losing the main health insurance provider on the Olympic Peninsula and how primary care providers stopped accepting Medicaid patients, enrollment changes in the PA School district, boom and bust of mill openings and closings, house boom of 2004, housing crisis of 2007, pandemic of 2020-2023, and economic revitalization. 

My historic knowledge of the past inspires me to plan for a better future for the next seven generations and commitment to a place where all can live, play, and work safely. I bring in intergenerational knowledge of place that my opponents don’t have. 

I am a mother of three wonderful children, and a grandmother to two amazing grandchildren. I am a former licensed foster care provider with almost 10 years’ experience. I graduated from Port Angeles High School 1989 and then enrolled at Peninsula College. In 1997 I obtained an Associate of Science degree from Broomfield Community College and returned to Port Angeles. I worked for Ray Gruver with State Farm Insurance and B&E ortho lab. While working full-time, I enrolled full-time in the Environmental Studies program offered by Western Washington University/Huxley Program that was offered at the Peninsula College campus.

I Graduated with an Environmental Policy and Planning degree from Western Washington University/Huxley program. After graduation I interned as a volunteer for Clallam County helping to address water quality issues on the Dungeness River.  In 2002 I was hired by Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe to work on the Elwha Dam Removal project and gained experience in planning, contract development/negotiations/implementation, policy/planning, Tribal Government, and land acquisitions. I worked for Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe for almost 16 years. Currently I work for my Tribe, the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, as the Restoration planner. I have over 23 years of experience working for local Tribal governments and bring that experience and knowledge to help bridge the working relationships of the local surrounding Tribes and our City Council.

I have experience sitting on boards for my Tribe, including serving on the Health Committee, Economic Development Authority, Washington Water Trust, and the Cannabis committee. I have over 20+ years of committee experience.

On City Council, I serve as a commissioner for William Shore Memorial Pool and am the Chair of the Marine Resources Services Committee. Additionally, I have been proud to advocate on behalf of the City of Port Angeles in Olympia and to our legislators to ensure that the interests of our community are kept in mind. Through this advocacy, Port Angeles has seen multi-millions of dollars worth of improvements, including funding for the childcare providers such as the Boys and Girls Club and the YMCA, and most recently, for the City’s own housing pilot project.