(This article originally appeared on Patch.com and has been republished with permission.)
The SeaTac City Council on Jan. 14 during a special meeting picked a replacement for former councilwoman Amina Ahmed, who died in a car crash in December. Some members of the local immigrant community were surprised by the pick, saying it wasn’t supposed to happen until February – and that Ahmed’s replacement does not represent SeaTac’s large immigrant community.
SeaTac Center, the two-story strip mall that takes up a slanted lot between 154th St and 152nd St, is a hub of commerce and culture. The shops that now occupy the location of a former casino and warehouse offer a place for East African, Latino, and Southeast Asian immigrants to gather, shop, eat, and establish their own cultural space in South King County.
The untimely and tragic death of Amina Ahmed, SeaTac City Councilmember and longtime immigrant and refugee advocate, shocked a community that had invested much hope in her tenure as a way to battle displacement and gentrification. Ahmed died in a car accident in the afternoon of December 8 at the intersection of South 188th Avenue and 16th Avenue South in SeaTac. She was only seven weeks into her council appointment.
Under a clear blue afternoon sky on October 13, a crowd of about 40 people — including representatives from the Seattle City Council, the King County Working Families Party, and the Firs Mobile Home Community — gathered outside SeaTac City Hall to show support for the appointment of Takele Gobena to the Council’s vacant fifth seat.
