The Auburn City Council selected Jason Whalen as Auburn’s new city attorney at its regular meeting on Aug. 5.
He was not in the council chambers for the event, but offered the following comments via Zoom.
“I am very excited and pleased to receive the appointment. I thank you for the vote of confidence tonight. I look forward to serving as Auburn’s next city attorney and working with an incredible staff. The mayor and [Human Resources Director Candice] Martinson have done yeoman’s work in the recruiting and hiring process to bring together a team for the city of Auburn that I think will work quite well, and will serve your needs very, very well over the next many, many years,” Whalen said.
His first day at his new job is Aug. 16.
“I sat in on two or three interviews … and out of all the answers received, I really felt Jason would be a great fit for our city and legal department,” said Councilmember Yolanda-Trout Manuel.
The City of Auburn declined to release any information on its new hire, but instead referred the Auburn Reporter to Whalen’s online LinkedIn account, which provided the following.
Whalen is a partner and co-founder of a local law firm, a mediator and arbitrator with On-point Dispute Resolution in Tacoma and comes to Auburn from the Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, where he was a deputy prosecuting attorney. He has been an attorney-advisor to businesses and individuals for the last 15 years. He has been responsible for directing and managing business, employment, real estate, and tort related claims litigation to successful resolution through mediation, arbitration, trial and appeals.
Whalen is a U.S. Army veteran and a longtime participant in local government and service clubs. He is a former president of the Tacoma-Pierce County Economic Development Board, and has served on the Pierce County Charter Review Commission and the Lakewood Planning Advisory Board.
He was elected as a member of the Lakewood City Council in 2009. In January 2022, the Lakewood City Council appointed him as mayor, that city’s fifth since its incorporation in 1996.
