Olympia’s design review board elects Virginia Sorrells as new chair

Olympia’s design review board elected Virginia Sorrells as their new chair and Roussa Cassel as vice-chair at its meeting last Thursday, August 11.

Sorrells, the co-chair before her election, will replace Joseph LaValle.

Board member Ingrid Gulden nominated Sorrells, who was the only nominee.

Sorrells has worked as a self-employed consultant for the past 25 years; previously she was an assistant commissioner of planning for the city of Chicago. Cassel is an architect and building designer who previously worked as a product designer.

“I think Virginia would be extremely skilled at it…I think the reason that we're all looking at [Sorrells] is because we know [she’s] really on point with facilitating,” Cassel said.

Board member Bassim Kreem nominated Cassel for the vice-chair – also without competition. The vice-chair will facilitate board meetings in the absence of the chair. They may also facilitate certain parts of the meeting, as Sorrells and LaValle have previously done.

The design review board reviews whether projects comply with design review requirements in preserving areas with historical significance. They recommend the approval or denial of projects based on their review. It is composed of nine members, two of which are architects.