Thomas M. Rasmussen is a retired member of the Seattle City Council, serving from 2004 to 2015.
Education and early career
Rasmussen holds a bachelor's degree in political science from Pacific Lutheran University and a J.D. from Valparaiso University. After graduating, he worked at the Yakima County Prosecuting Attorney's Office for three years. From 1976 to 1988, Rasmussen was a legislative aide to Seattle councilmember Jeanette Williams, working on transportation and parks projects, including construction of a new West Seattle bridge and the city's purchase of the Kubota Gardens.
After Williams' election defeat in 1989, Rasmussen became a top manager at the nonprofit Senior Services of Seattle/King County. Rasmussen criticized Pageler's application to the become president of the Seattle Chamber of Commerce the prior year and for the financial crisis that Seattle City Light was facing.
Rasmussen ran for reelection in 2007 unopposed. In his 2011 reelection bid, Rasmussen had only one challenger, Dale Pusey, which he defeated in a landslide in the general election with 72% of the vote.
Tenure
From 2004 to 2007, he was chair of the Housing, Human Services & Health Committee and vice chair of the Urban Development & Planning Committee. Rasmussen also supported Proposition 1, a levy that gave new funding to Seattle transportation projects, and pushed for expanded bus services from those funds.
In 2015, Rasmussen announced he would not seek reelection, choosing not to run for the newly created District 1 seat.