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.

Carol Buckingham is one of 17 candidates vying for the seat.

Background: Buckingham lives in the Central Houghton neighborhood and has lived in Kirkland for 16 years. She graduated Washington State University in 1992 with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. Buckingham, a licensed professional engineer, is the manager and primary design engineer of her business Structural Designs, PLLC in Kirkland.

Experience: Buckingham, 43, is the chair of the Central Houghton Neighborhood Association, has served on the Kirkland Economic Partnership and has worked on the Houghton neighborhood plan update, among other organizations she’s apart of such as the Department of Civil Engineering at WSU.

Reason for running: Buckingham believes if you live in a community, you have a responsibility to do your part within a community. As a small business owner, she feels that she can give some good contributions from a business side and a neighborhood stand point.

Top issues facing the city: Buckingham thinks transportation and traffic are big issues facing the city.

“When people can’t get to where they need to go, it causes a lot of frustration,” she said in an email. “On a personal level, I think the Cross Kirkland Corridor is an amazing resource, and with my transportation background … I think it’s a good to get another look at it and continue to look at what goes into that trail before taking steps that change it too much.”

She also thinks a lot of focus should be on the citywide Comprehensive Plan update and enhancing the Council’s decision making process by making sure it’s clear and predictable for people.