LYNNWOOD — Lynnwood City Council Vice President Josh Binda lives in Lynnwood, right?
It’s not so clear.
Binda’s residency has been called into question after a 2023 eviction and his voter registration status being listed as inactive. The 25-year-old also wrote an Everett apartment as his address on a number of public documents during his 2024 run for a seat on the U.S. House of Representatives.
His residency has been a topic of discussion for weeks between community members and fellow council members after an article published Jan. 27 by the Lynnwood Times alleged Binda may be living in Everett.
Binda vehemently denies the allegations and maintains that he is a Lynnwood resident. Some members of the body, like Council President Nick Coelho, have backed Binda in city council meetings. Others, like council members Patrick Decker and David Parshall, have sought additional proof of residency from Binda.
State law requires elected officials to be residents of the city for at least a year before they can run for office. If an elected official ceases to be a legally registered voter of the city they represent, their seat will be be vacated.
Lynnwood’s municipal code, however, doesn’t specify any other residency requirements for its City Council members beyond state law.
On Monday, council member Decker suggested amending city code to require council members to provide proof of residency upon request, once every three months at the most. Proof of residency documents would be the same as those required by the Washington Department of Licensing to receive a Real ID. Those documents could include a vehicle registration or title, a cell phone bill, a home utility bill, bank statements, voter cards and auto insurance policies, among others.
Decker asked Lynnwood’s city attorney, Lisa Marshall, to bring back language to the council that the body could vote on at an upcoming meeting.
The City Council and the mayor don’t have the power to remove Binda from his seat. A court must find that he is not a resident of the city. Previous cases have used utility bills, driver’s licenses and voter registration as proof of residency.
“I take my responsibilities very seriously as a city council member,” council member David Parshall said Monday. “Just because nothing has happened yet doesn’t mean we are not taking things seriously.”
Binda was evicted from a Lynnwood apartment in 2023 after he did not pay rent for more than six months, court records show. On Monday, he said in a City Council meeting it was due to him losing his job.
Current voter registration data shows Binda living at a different Lynnwood address than the apartment he was evicted from. But in April 2024, Binda filed with the Federal Election Commission to create a campaign committee, People For Josh Binda, as he sought a seat in the U.S. House. In that filing, Binda listed an Everett apartment — his father’s home, he said Monday — as his address.
His listed contact address on the Secretary of State’s website for that election, however, is the apartment in Lynnwood he was evicted from. Binda filed the document in May 2024, records show, months after he was evicted.
“His FEC filing, which he signed and swore was true and correct, under penalty of perjury, he wrote down his address being in Everett,” Decker said Monday. “I don’t know how you get clearer. Council member Binda has sworn in a statement — you can go look, go the FEC, look it up — he swore that he lived in Everett at the time he filed that.”
Binda’s motivational speaking company, Josh Binda Speaks, is also registered at the apartment he was evicted from in 2023, according to state corporation records. A financial affairs disclosure form he submitted to the state Public Disclosure Commission in July 2024, however, lists that company’s address as an Everett apartment — the same one he listed on the Federal Election Commission filing.
Binda listed an Everett address in his Federal Election Commission filing because his family had concerns over his safety, he said in an interview Thursday, but was unsure why the Secretary of State’s records showed his mailing address in Lynnwood when he was evicted from that property months earlier.
After he was evicted in 2023, Binda was “couch surfing,” he said, between his family’s homes in the area. He temporarily lived with his aunt in Lynnwood then house-sat for his father in Everett between December 2024 and January 2025 at the address listed in his Federal Election Commission document. He is now living with family in Lynnwood, he said, but did not provide documentation to The Daily Herald proving his residency.
Binda also said he was fearful of his family’s safety when running for the federal seat because of scrutiny, harassment and hate mail he said he’s received during his time as a council member.
“I don’t want to do anything to jeopardize my family further than what my work on council has already put me through,” Binda said Thursday. “I think the questions around this are just bizarre to me. I was caught at my father’s home during the holidays, house sitting, and I thought that wouldn’t be unusual for anyone, especially a young person.”
Physically moving for a short period of time does not necessarily denote a change of permanent residence, according to the Municipal Research and Services center, a nonprofit which provides legal guidance to municipal governments. Generally, unless an individual shows an intent to abandon their old residence by establishing residency outside of their municipality, the person would still be eligible to hold office, wrote Flannary Collins, an attorney at the research center.
If a council member owns or rents more than one property, it then becomes a question of which one the official designates as their primary residence, an uncredited article for the research center reads, which can be established by direct or indirect evidence.
“In terms of direct evidence, it is simple enough to ask the official which location they consider to be their permanent residence,” the article says. “For indirect evidence, look at the address the official uses on their voter registration, driver’s license, tax records, children’s school enrollment forms, memberships in public parks and recreation programs, utility bills, and similar documents.”
Binda has been embroiled in controversy before for ethics and campaign finance violations. In 2022 and 2023, the Public Disclosure Commission fined him more than $1,300 after an investigation found Binda spent campaign funds on personal items, including plane tickets and luxury clothing. He still owes more than $1,300 in fines issued by the commission, records show.
Later that year, Binda admitted to violating city ethics rules because he used City Council property to advertise his motivational speaking tour, from which he earned at least $14,500.
When filing to run for office, the Snohomish County Auditor’s Office verifies addresses by comparing the address a candidate provides with their voter registration records. Registering to vote requires a person list their physical residential address, Snohomish County Auditor Garth Fell said in an interview Monday, but does not require additional documentation to prove that address is a person’s residence.
“In terms of the voter registration process, it is really that validation from the individual that is signing that oath, saying ‘This is where I reside,’ and many times that will match a driver’s license or bills they receive,” Fell said.
It is a felony to put incorrect information on voter registration documents and declaration of candidacy forms, Fell said. The United States Post Office also informs the auditor’s office if a person has potentially moved from their address.
If the post office makes that determination, the person’s voting status is listed as inactive.
Binda most recently voted in the November 2024 election, records show. The Secretary of State’s office listed his status as inactive near the beginning of 2025, Fell said.
Inactive voters are still able to participate in elections, but they must first confirm their address with the auditor’s office before their status is reactivated. Binda is still a registered voter in Lynnwood and will be for at least four more years, even if his status remains inactive, according to state law.
The auditor’s office does not have the authority or responsibility to monitor the ongoing residency of elected officials, Fell added. His office makes checks during the filing process, but it’s up to local jurisdictions to validate the residency of their officials. That’s one reason council member Decker is looking to define residency specifically in Lynnwood’s law.
“What I am proposing is that we clean up the language in our code to remove that confusion, to create clarity and to regain trust and credibility in the community,” Decker said. “We can’t just leave it as it is and say it was good enough before, it’s good enough now, because the community does not think it’s good enough.”
However, another council member, Derica Escamilla, said putting additional rules on top of existing state law would be redundant.
“I’m concerned that we’ve gone too far in breaking that public trust to just say ‘Oh, we checked the voting records with the auditor,’” council member Parshall said. “… At this point, the only way to remove a council member is resignation, or if we get some clarity from the courts on this. I think that’s an opportunity for council member Binda to completely clear himself.”
Snohomish County Superior Court would be responsible for filing an action against a sitting council member over residency concerns. Asking the court to do that, however, would be difficult and expensive, Lynnwood City Attorney Lisa Marshall said. It would also not be 100% certain that the court would accept the case and provide an opinion.
“Every city I’ve ever been city attorney for has had this discussion. No city has resolved it,” Marshall told the council Monday. “… I guess if I had something to say that might kind of get you off of this impasse you seem to be on, what will you do if you do create this ordinance and you do create this criteria and you’re still frustrated, because there’s still discussion of where people live? I’m only offering that because in my experience, it tends to be a never-ending inquiry. I’ll just leave it at that.”
Will Geschke: 425-339-3443; william.geschke@heraldnet.com; X: @willgeschke.
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