After Bob Sternoff resigned from his Position 2 seat on the Kirkland City Council in March, the council was forced to make a quick decision to appoint a new council member by April 16.

Jay Arnold is one of 17 candidates vying for the seat.

Background: Arnold first moved to Kirkland 23 years ago. He lives in the Norkirk neighborhood with his wife, Mary Beth Binns, and three daughters, who attend the Community School in Houghton. He has a Bachelor of Science and Computer Science from the University of Colorado.

In February, Arnold launched his bid for the seat to be vacated by outgoing Mayor Joan McBride. He still intends to pursue this seat during the general election in November.

His early endorsements include former Mayor Dave Russell, former Councilwoman Nona Ganz, Parks Board chair Sue Keller, and state Reps. Roger Goodman and Cyrus Habib.

Experience: Arnold has a long resume of community service and leadership. Most recently, he co-chaired the successful YES! for Great Kirkland Parks campaign. He currently is on the Planning Commission, serving as chair in 2011-2012.

Previously, he served on the board of the Municipal League of King County, the Capital Finance Review Board, Futurewise, and Northwest SEED (Sustainable Energy for Economic Development). Arnold is currently the secretary of his daughters’ elementary school parent-teacher group.

Professionally, Arnold is a software developer who was a group manager at Microsoft and now works as the technology director for Fuse Washington, a progressive advocacy organization.

Reason for running: “Kirkland has great pride in our community and we know that our city is a great place to live and work,” said Arnold, 45. “We get engaged in our community to keep it that way.”

He said he knows from his experience on the Planning Commission that some of the city’s “ways of doing business are breaking down. I have ways that we can tackle the issues to maintain our quality of life.”

He added while the council has focused on economic development, it should also prioritize updating its neighborhood plans.

Top issues facing the city: He said the city’s Comprehensive Plan needs a “major update” and also needs to incorporate the new neighborhoods.

“In 2014 Kirkland will update our Comprehensive Plan, which details the long-term strategy for our city,” said Arnold in an earlier press release. “This is where transportation, economic development, parks and planning all come together. Yet almost half the city has no neighborhood plan. I will focus on business districts and economic development, while at the same time empowering neighborhoods to develop their vision for the future. We have to do both to keep Kirkland a great place to live and work in.”

Also, he said with Google set to double its campus and with the upcoming Parkplace redevelopment, the city needs a strategy for its transportation network.

The key to this, he says, is the development of the Cross Kirkland Corridor.

“I am supportive of an effort to make the Cross Kirkland Corridor usable and to make sure we have a bike/trail segment of trail done,” he added.