Tom Rasmussen is a member of the Seattle City Council, first elected in 2003. He was the first openly gay man elected to the Council. (Lesbians Sherry Harris and Tina Podlodowski were elected in 1991 and 1995, respectively.) Between September 2004 and December 2007 he was chair of the Housing, Human Services & Health Committee, vice chair of the Urban Development & Planning Committee, and a member of the Transportation Committee. On January 7, 2008 Tom was sworn in for his second term on City Council. He is currently the chair of the Parks & Seattle Center Committee, the vice chair of the Culture, Civil Rights, Heath and Personnel committee, and the Labor Policy Committee.[1]