Claude DaCorsi: Life After Auburn City Council

Claude DaCorsi (72) officially served his last day for the city of Auburn Friday, December 31, 2021, New Year’s Eve. The two-term city council member and Deputy Mayor chose not to seek another term but pursue other endeavors. Before first taking office on the Auburn city council on January 1st, 2014, he started campaigning in 2013 while working for the King County Housing Authority. With the county, he served as the housing management director for 15-years before retiring in 2015. With King County, he managed remodels and upgrades which included property-based Section 8 units in the cities of Auburn and Kent. Some of his earlier King County projects included fire retrofitting and upgrading multi-family and senior living buildings to meet modern fire safety standards. Working closely with HUD and other housing organizations over the years, he helped design and build affordable housing across Washington state. His work included several affordable housing and senior living projects within the city of Auburn and neighboring cities.  He has worked in construction and the housing industry in Washington State as far back as the early 1990s when he worked for the Grant County housing authority as their director of housing and development. It is no wonder he is so passionate about affordable housing to this day and continues to work with the city of Auburn regarding affordable housing.

Whatever you do, “be a part of it.”

With a degree in public administration and government, DaCorsi decided he wanted to utilize his background to contribute to his community and run for city council. During his tenure on city council DaCorsi served two terms as Deputy Mayor, a position he was elected into by his fellow councilmembers. You Might Also Be Interested In: Auburn mourns loss of former councilmember, deputy mayor Richard Wagner DaCorsi has a message for the citizens of Auburn that want to get more involved. He says, please attend the city council meetings which are held on the 1st and 3rd Monday of every month at 7:00 pm. There are also city council study sessions held on the 2nd and 4th Monday of every month at 5:30 pm. All of the meetings are open to the public. You can find a calendar of city council meetings with the addition of other committee and board meetings on the City of Auburn website (link). In addition to attending the city meetings, DaCorsi says, get involved, write letters, and also volunteer to be on the different committees and boards that influence the city’s decision-making. But whatever you do, “be a part of it,” DaCorsi said. City council meetings have just recently returned to council chambers. However, for DaCorsi’s final year they were being held virtually due to covid restrictions and safety concerns. He experienced 20 months of a virtual city shutdown where city council members and staff had to do everything over Zoom meetings and computers. But that did not stop them from doing their jobs. As deputy mayor, part of DaCorsi’s responsibility was to train and onboard new council members. During the shutdown, this all had to be done virtually. You Might Also Be Interested In: Remembering Auburn’s Champion, Bill Peloza In addition to all of DaCorsi’s service to the local community, he is also a successful self-published author of the historical novel, ”Alba Nuova”. His book is available on Amazon in both paperback and eBook formats (link). DaCorsi has a few more writing projects in the works.