Paul Parker has spent over 30 years working in and around state legislatures, here in Washington and his native state of Michigan. He has worked as committee staff and lobbyist, and taught public policy at The Evergreen State College. His policy experience lies primarily in the areas of land use, water and natural resources, transportation, and energy. While Assistant Executive Director for the Washington State Association of Counties in 2005, he worked with the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation to win the initial funding for the historic county courthouse program.
Through 15 years of work with county governments and 14 years as staff with for the Washington State Transportation Commission, Paul has been in every county (and nearly every city) in Washington multiple times. A planner at heart, he has lectured extensively on Washington’s Growth Management Act and has been project director twice for the Washington Transportation Plan (WTP), the statewide long-range transportation plan. He served as a Board Member with the Washington Trust from 2013 to 2019 and remains active in its committee work.
Paul and his family live in Olympia on the edge of the historic Bigelow Neighborhood. A graduate of Detroit Public Schools, he attributes his love of cities and their history to his childhood in Detroit. In addition to a BA in American Cultural Studies from Michigan State University (1977), he has a JD (1983) and MPA (2005) from the University of Washington.