Meet Your Mayor: Puyallup Council Member Julie Door Cycles into Mayor Position

Oftentimes, if you ask council members how they got involved in politics, they might tell you they never sought out the role. For Julie Door, it was a result of being passionate about and wanting to maintain what she loved about Puyallup. She was coming to council meetings and getting involved with city ordinances when she was asked to fill a vacated seat on the Puyallup City Council in 2013.

“I initially said no, but eventually decided that that was the right course,” Door said.

On January 7, Door was cycled into the mayor position for her turn in a two-year term. This was following John Palmer’s term, who is now elected as the deputy mayor.

Door was born and raised in Puyallup and has always felt close to the community and all the amazing things it has to offer. She currently lives in South Hill and works as a massage therapist alongside her husband in addition to her role as mayor. They enjoy spending time with each other and their two kids, TJ and Brianna, being creative, active or simply watching movies.

Julie Door
Puyallup Mayor Julie Door. Photo courtesy: City of Puyallup Public Affairs Officer

Door values building community in all aspects of her life, whether that’s getting out to “music in the park” with her family or inviting Boy Scouts to see the council chambers and talk about what matters to them. She specifically wants to make an effort to hear more from people younger than herself and with other perspectives she doesn’t have. 

“It’s fun because I like to learn, and I like the different input,” Door said. “I really have enjoyed meeting with different people and I really want to encourage people younger than myself to become involved, even if it’s just a quick email.”

In general, she said everyone here has a lot of similar values and sometimes an issue will come up that might cause people to lose track of that. The objective is often the same, but not everyone always agrees on how to get there.

“My goal is to try to help us remember that we are stronger together, that we have a common vision, and that we all love this place called home,” Door said.

Part of achieving this goal is listening to sometimes frustrated voices to get to the deeper issue that needs to be solved. When someone is upset about something, this means they have the same passion for Puyallup that she does.

“They’re frustrated and my job is to help them,” Door said. “It’s a challenge, but it’s rewarding at the same time.”  

Love My Puyallup Rock
A rock painted #LoveMyPuyallup Community sits on a windowsill in Julie Door’s City Hall office. The word unity within community stands out with red paint. Photo credit: Nicole Martinson

This passion for Puyallup is part of what encouraged Door to start the #LoveMyPuyallup hashtag on Facebook and other social networks, like Twitter. Originally started by the National League of Cities with #LoveMyCity, she said it’s important to take ownership of our community. 

This means that rather than focusing all of our efforts being upset about a problem, residents should focus on working toward a solution. With #LoveMyPuyallup, citizens can post pictures and videos of aspects of the town that they enjoy and that make it a great place to live. 

“[Of course] there are issues, but we’re not going to give up who we are at a core,” Door said. “We need something that is not polarizing and that’s what my goal is with #LoveMyPuyallup.”

The hashtag also represents the unity maintained by Puyallup residents throughout disagreements within each matter that comes up. Door said it’s really tough to come to a resolution on issues that the majority of people can buy into.

“Yes, we have our challenges, but let’s not lose sight of all the things that we have here that make Puyallup great,” Door said.

Mayor Julie Door welcomes communication to her email, jdoor@ci.puyallup.wa.us or her office in the Puyallup City Hall at 253-320-5826. City council meetings are open to any citizen and take place multiple times per month at the Puyallup City Hall, located at 333 South Meridian Street. A portion of all city council regular meetings, usually toward the beginning of the meeting, is set aside for public comment. The 2020 meeting calendar can be viewed on the City of Puyallup’s website, as well as other information about the city council and meetings.