Here’s what we know about new District 4 Tacoma City Council member Sandesh Sadalge

Sandesh Sadalge is ready to get to work for District 4.

On Tuesday, the Tacoma City Council appointed Sadalge as the district’s new representative. The position had been vacant since the May 15 death of Council member Catherine Ushka , who in 2022 announced her stage 3 cervical cancer diagnosis.

Twenty-three applicants vied for the role, with six finalists being named earlier this month.

Sadalge will be sworn Tuesday, July 23.

The 44-year-old told The News Tribune on Wednesday afternoon that he hopes to honor Ushka’s legacy.

“I think what Catherine was really good at was not only listening to all the constituents, listening to the opposing viewpoint to learn things better, but listening to herself — her inner voice — and making decisions that also aligned with her core values,” he said. “And I think I have similar, if not the same, core values.”

Sadalge moved to Tacoma with his wife in 2019, and today they reside in District 4’s McKinley neighborhood. He was born in India before moving to the United States with his parents at the age of 6, and he grew up in New York City.

One of the things that Sadalge said he appreciates about his district is that, similar to New York, it’s an area packed with character, history and depth — plus “amazing people.”

“There’s an authenticity to a place like District 4 — and Tacoma as a whole — that you just can’t get from basically the gilded closed-off neighborhoods in most of modern America,” he said.

Sadalge wrote in his application for the position that, if appointed, he believed he would be the Tacoma City Council’s first member of South Asian descent. He highlighted his experience in data analytics and his business acumen, having helped resurrect Noble Farms , a cannabis producer/processor on the Tacoma Tideflats that had previously gone out of business.

During his candidate interview earlier this month, Sadalge joked that spreadsheets “actually really make [him] happy.” That trait might come in handy as council faces a projected $26 million deficit for the 2025-26 budget.

Sadalge told The News Tribune that after his mother died in December, he decided to take time off to grieve and refocus.

“So when this came up right around the time I was getting ready to get back into the workforce ... it just very much aligned with this very deep desire I had of wanting to do something meaningful,” he said. “Something that she would be proud of.”

Sadalge said he wishes he had known Ushka better. Still, she left an “indelible” mark during the interactions they had.

He wrote in his application that Ushka urged him to work in public service, and he wound up joining the Planning Commission and the McKinley Neighborhood Plan Steering Committee.

Sadalge said he’s well prepared for council to take up Phase 2 of the housing affordability-focused “ Home in Tacoma ” project thanks to his time with the Planning Commission. He looks forward to working on other “meaty” items, such as the Comprehensive and Tideflats Subarea plans.

Mayor Victoria Woodards told The News Tribune that even though she didn’t know Sadalge beforehand, she was struck by how authentic he seemed during his July 9 interview. He appeared to be someone who is open to change and willing to listen.

The mayor cited Sadalge’s skills and experience as major pluses.

“I could feel his love for the district,” Woodards said. “If I had not looked at his resume to see how long he’s lived in Tacoma, I would have thought he lived here all of his life because that’s the way that he impressed me with how he talked about the Eastside.”

During Sadalge’s July 9 interview, he said that Ushka influenced his point of view about politics. He used to be distrustful, but she helped him want to be a “change agent” for his neighbors.

Sadalge does not intend to run for the position after his term expires at the end of 2025, he said during the interview. Still, he told the council that given this pause in his life, he’s ready to devote the next several months to accomplishing something meaningful.

“I want to work together with each of you on policies that are going to make Tacoma better, to manage our growth responsibility — it’s already here,” Sadalge said. “But most of all, I want to foster engagement, cultivate trust, credibility and turn skeptics into allies — just like Catherine did.”

The new council member provided a phonetic spelling for how to correctly pronounce his name: “Sun-they-sh Suh-dhul-gay.”

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to clarify Sandesh Sadalge’s involvement with Noble Farms.