Jan Drago is a Seattle politician who served on the Seattle City Council and the Metropolitan King County Council. Jan and her husband Noel Drago moved to Seattle in 1980 to operate Häagen-Dazs ice cream franchises. They previously lived in Michigan, New York, New Jersey, and Ohio before settling permanently in Washington. She became involved in a number of community and civic organizations as a small-business owner. Drago ran for the city council on a platform of public safety and economic development. She was elected and served for 16 years, from 1994 to 2009. She served as the president of the Seattle City Council twice and chaired the budget, business, and transportation committees. Her significant accomplishments include establishing the city's first off-leash dog areas, revitalizing downtown through a series of complex business deals, supporting the redevelopment of the South Lake Union neighborhood, and championing a tunnel to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct. Drago ran unsuccessfully for Seattle Mayor in 2009. In 2010, she was appointed to serve a one-year term on the Metropolitan King County Council.
Early Life in Michigan
Janet "Jan" Drago (née Gibson) was born on May 12, 1940, in East Lansing, Michigan, to Gale and Ruth Gibson. Jan was the couple's only child. As an adult, she quipped, "I was my father's son and my mother's daughter, and I really learned from both of them." (Drago interview with author). Her father worked as a lobbyist for conservation issues in Michigan. He frequently took young Jan with him to the capitol, where she "played hide-and-go-seek in the governor's office" ("Drago to Be Council President"). Jan developed a keen interest in politics at a young age.
She also enjoyed theater as a child. She was the only child actor to travel and perform with a theater troupe based at Michigan State University. Her skill and interest in public performance continued to grow as she got older. As a young teen, she took speech classes and traveled to Ann Arbor, Michigan, to deliver a presentation at the University of Michigan. She credits her speech teacher and the school principal – who also employed her as a babysitter – as two influential adults who saw "something special" in her and nurtured her character (Interview). She would later draw upon the skills she developed in theater and speech in her career as a public official.
The Gibsons owned and operated a 350-acre Christmas tree farm, which gave Jan early exposure to small-business management and shaped her work ethic. When she was only 5, she became responsible for weeding and planting seedlings. The farm included retail lots where fast-food restaurants such as Dairy Queen, Tastee Freez, and A&W Root Beer operated in the summer. Jan's father encouraged her to purchase the Tastee Freez franchise when she was just a 17-year-old high school student. She hired her friends to work at her ice cream shop.
It was there at the Tastee Freez that Jan met Noel Drago (b. 1938), a college student and ice cream lover. Noel and Jan married in 1959 while they were both enrolled at Michigan State University. The couple soon started a family. When Noel graduated from college, they relocated to his hometown of Brooklyn, New York, for his career.
Active in New Jersey
After a year in New York City, the Drago family moved to a town in New Jersey, and Noel commuted to work in the city. Jan kept busy raising their four sons: Dean (b. 1959), Scott (1960-1987), Jeff (b. 1961) and Brad (1964-2019). When all four children were enrolled in school, Jan went back to college and earned a degree in psychology from Douglass College at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey in 1973.
Jan Drago was active in her New Jersey community. She worked as a preschool and kindergarten teacher in a Head Start program, coached girls' soccer, and became active in the Democratic Party. She managed political campaigns ranging from the local school board to the United States Senate. Drago developed the skills, experience, and name recognition necessary to launch her own political career. She was prepared to run for office. She said, "I was positioned. Had we stayed there, I think I could have easily run" (Interview).
However, Drago did not have the opportunity to start her political career in New Jersey. In 1978, she and Noel relocated to Cleveland, Ohio, where Noel had taken a management position at Bobbie Brooks, a women's apparel company. After about a year in Cleveland, Noel Drago was ready to change jobs and change industries. Without deep roots in Ohio, the Dragos saw no reason to stay in Cleveland.
Small-Business Owner
Jan Drago spent about a year deciding what to do and where to go. She decided to open a Häagen-Dazs ice cream franchise. Ice cream was something of a family tradition for Jan's family. Her father and uncle had owned a dairy store in Fowlerville, Michigan, as young men. And Jan and Noel had fond memories of Jan's teenage entrepreneurial days at the Tastee Freez. They also believed an ice cream business could be popular and successful anywhere. Jan Drago travelled extensively to find their next home. "It came down to Phoenix or Seattle. And given that I'd been raised basically in the forest, it was more appealing than the desert," she said of their decision to move to Washington (Interview). In 1980, they moved to Bellevue and then to downtown Seattle, where they have lived ever since.
Häagen-Dazs was well-known on the East Coast but had little brand recognition on the West Coast when Drago opened her first franchise. Drago took a financial risk, secured a loan through Seattle First National Bank, and bet that Seattleites would be willing to splurge on sweet treats even in a recession ("Häagen-Dazs Does Well ..."). Drago opened her first Häagen-Dazs Ice Cream Shoppe on Broadway in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood on January 15, 1981. "It was a big deal. There were lines out the door," she recalled (Interview).
Drago opened a total of four stores over the course of two years. After Capitol Hill came Bellevue Square, then Pike Place Market, and finally Southcenter Mall in Tukwila. By the time Drago opened a shop on the corner of Virginia Street and Western Avenue by Pike Place Market in April 1982, the chain had amassed a loyal following of ice cream enthusiasts. Over 200 people crowded into the store for the pre-opening celebration. The Pike Place Market location was envisioned as more than just an ice cream parlor. With late-night hours, ample seating, and a menu of pastries and espresso drinks, it was also meant to be a community meeting spot in the heart of Seattle. When Drago entered into community activism, she hosted many meetings in that Häagen-Dazs Ice Cream Shoppe. She included every member of the family in the ice cream business. In a 1991 newsletter, Drago wrote, "Even our grandsons, Aussie and Kyle, looked forward to the day they would be big enough to scoop ice cream" ("Keeping in Touch …"). All four stores closed on November 30, 1991, after Häagen-Dazs, Inc. was sold to a multinational company that did not renew any Seattle-area franchises.
Community Activist
Running an ice cream business in downtown Seattle in the 1980s was fun but often challenging. By mid-1985, an increasingly visible, vocal, and aggressive homeless population deterred many would-be customers from patronizing small businesses around Pike Place Market. "There was a new drug-crazed street crowd aggressively panhandling our customers," Drago explained to a reporter years later ("Drago: Downtown Rehab …"). This issue, along with an act of violence at a park near Pike Place Market in 1985, sparked Drago's community activism.
From the mid-1980s until the early 1990s, she advocated for public safety issues as a small-business owner. She was active in multiple civic groups, such as the Downtown Seattle Association, First Avenue Association, and the Denny Regrade Crime Prevention Council. As a representative on the Mayor's Task Force on Street People and the Homeless under Mayor Charles Royer (1939-2024) and Mayor Norm Rice (b. 1943), Drago led an effort to ban the sale of fortified wine – cheap wine with a high liquor content – in downtown Seattle. She also chaired the Task Force on Homelessness under Governor Booth Gardner (1936-2013). Drago, a Democrat, gained the respect of law enforcement and Republicans through her work on public safety and business issues.
While Drago led many initiatives to combat crime and addiction and to advocate for safety, these were not just public policy issues for her. They were also deeply personal concerns. Two of her sons had criminal records and struggled with substance abuse. A third son, Scott, died unexpectedly in 1987. The hardships and tragedies Drago encountered as a mother bolstered Drago's empathy toward others. "I had a lot of loss in my life," Drago explained. "I can connect with almost anybody. Everybody has a story if you're willing to engage" (Interview). By working through many personal difficulties, Drago developed what she considers her strongest quality: resilience.
First and Second City Council Campaigns
Empathy and resilience would serve Drago well when she decided to run for public office. John Gilmore (1930-2021), president and CEO of the Downtown Seattle Association, encouraged Drago to run for the Seattle City Council in 1988. Drago recalled, "I told him, 'No, I'm not ready. I don't know enough about the city.' But two years later, I decided I did because I'd also been very, very involved with public safety issues and with the police" (Interview).
Drago was one of six candidates to vie for Seattle City Council position No. 1 in the 1991 primary election. Drago's kick-off breakfast was packed with 350 supporters, including Seattle jeweler Herb Bridge (1925-2018), King County Councilmember Ron Sims (b. 1948), and Seattle Police Chief Patrick Fitzsimons ("City Council Candidates Campaign …"). Drago's campaign focused on increased policing, housing the homeless, and preschool education. She finished third in the primary and did not progress to the general election.
Although she was defeated, Drago was undeterred in her efforts to improve Seattle. She served as the campaign manager for Citizens for Regional Justice Centers, a group that advocated for new jail and court space in Kent to address overcrowding in the King County Jail. She also chaired Seattle Cares, a program designed to serve Seattle's homeless population.
In June 1993, Drago launched a second campaign for Seattle City Council. Her campaign themes were economic development, living-wage jobs, neighborhood safety, and government accountability. She won the election and was sworn in to the Seattle City Council on January 3, 1994.
Drago believed that "downtown was dying" when she was elected (Interview). She explained, "You could stand at the corner of 6th and Pine, shoot a gun or a cannon down either street, and would not hit anybody" (Interview). In an effort to revitalize downtown, she allied with Mayor Norm Rice to reopen Pine Street between 4th and 5th avenues to vehicular traffic and to secure Nordstrom as a retail destination in the old Frederick & Nelson building on the corner of 5th Avenue and Pine Street.
Downtown safety and economic development remained among Drago's top concerns throughout her four terms on the city council. Opponents criticized her as being too focused on downtown. Drago argued, "I happen to believe the health and vitality of downtown is tied to the neighborhoods. We're all in this together" ("Drago: Downtown Rehab …"). Drago credited many of the downtown projects she supported – including a deal to purchase the Pacific Place garage and an expansion of the Washington State Convention Center – with increasing revenue to benefit the entire city.
Drago was not just a downtown booster. She also developed a reputation as "Seattle's dog lady" due to her leadership in establishing the first designated off-leash dog areas in city parks in 1997 ("Drago Will Become Seattle's Next Mayor ..."). The dog park resolution was a seemingly small but significant achievement. According to Drago, "I made more people and dogs happy than anything else." (Interview).
Drago was unanimously selected by her colleagues to serve a two-year term as council president on January 4, 1996. She was the first first-term councilmember to hold this position since 1972. Drago emerged as a compromise candidate when two senior members failed to secure a majority of the vote. According to reporter Peter Lewis, Drago was "credited by supporters with a quiet determination to get things done" ("Drago to be Council President …"). Her supporters and allies in City Hall appreciated her steady and calming presence during a turbulent year on the City Council, which included the resignation of two councilmembers ("Drago Will Become Seattle's Next Mayor …").
Second City Council Term
Drago was re-elected on November 4, 1997. She soon became one of the city's most vocal advocates of a plan to install five self-cleaning public toilets in pedestrian-heavy neighborhoods. Drago, then chair of the council's budget committee, considered the toilets a basic service that the city could afford to provide. Opponents argued that the facilities would be misused for criminal purposes and decried the $638,000 annual cost. The City Council voted 5-4 to approve the toilets in 2001. After years of public debate, Drago had become so closely identified with this issue that one Seattle Post-Intelligencer editorial went so far as to dub her Seattle's "potty queen" ("Proceed with Public Toilets").
While Drago's council portfolio included many concrete issues that directly affected the daily lives of Seattle residents – such as parking garages, dog parks, and toilet facilities – she also carried international responsibilities that were less immediately felt by residents. Drago traveled extensively overseas, often to Asia. She explained: "We did a lot of outreach on trade development. We knew where our future was, which was Asia" (Interview). Trips abroad included efforts to promote apple and wine trades, develop aerospace industry connections, and foster sister-city partnerships.
"The Voice in the Middle"
When Drago campaigned for a third term on the city council in 2001, she did so as a politically moderate candidate. "I'm the voice in the middle," she said during the campaign ("Challengers Focus on Incumbent Drago"). Seattle voters ousted the incumbent mayor and city attorney during the primary election. Drago, however, was elected for a third term on November 6, 2001. During a time of significant political change, She appeared to be a steadying force in city government. As chair of the budget committee, she drew upon her prior experience to steer the council through a tight budget cycle.
In December 2003, Drago was selected to serve as council president for a second two-year term. She was the City Council's longest-serving member when she was selected for the role a second time. Mayor Greg Nickels (b. 1955) and councilmembers had a publicly contentious relationship during the mayor's first few years in office. Many City Hall insiders credited Drago with keeping the peace between the two factions in order to conduct city business. As chair of the budget committee, Drago successfully restored some of the mayor's deep cuts to social services ("Drago Often Cited for Work Ethic").
As council president, Drago supported widening of Mercer Street and an extensive redevelopment of the South Lake Union neighborhood in 2004. She saw the project as an opportunity to develop more housing and job growth in an underutilized neighborhood. As council president and chair of the transportation committee, Drago was also a strong proponent of a proposed monorail line that would connect Ballard to West Seattle. Many monorail supporters on the council withdrew support in 2005 when it was reported that the total cost was projected to be $11.4 billion over 50 years. Drago remained committed to seeing the once-popular project through.
Drago's position on the monorail proved troublesome in the run-up to her 2005 re-election. Casey Corr, a communications aide to Mayor Nickels, ran against Drago for City Council and attacked her position on the monorail. Drago publicly defended her position for months. But by September, without many allies left, she conceded that the project needed to be rebid or terminated. Drago was frustrated when the monorail expansion was officially scrapped in late 2005. When asked about it years later, she replied, "You don't win them all. That's for sure" (Interview).
On November 8, 2005, Drago was elected to Seattle City Council for the fourth and final time. She said it was "the most challenging re-election campaign I've faced" ("Corr is Riding Monorail Issue …"). Having been challenged by one of Mayor Nickels's aides put an additional strain on Drago's working relationship with the mayor. Despite their personal differences, Drago vowed to continue to work with the mayor on policy issues in her fourth term.
Fourth City Council Term
Transportation became a significant concern for Drago during her fourth term on the City Council. State and local leaders spent years debating a strategy for replacing the Alaskan Way Viaduct after it sustained irreparable damage in the 2001 Nisqually earthquake. Many Seattle leaders agreed that a tunnel – rather than another elevated highway or surface streets – would be the best replacement. State leaders, including Governor Christine Gregoire (b. 1947), argued that moving ahead with the tunnel would be fiscally irresponsible, a stance that left Seattle officials scrambling to find a way forward.
Despite the overwhelming financial, political, and engineering challenges, Drago remained one of the tunnel's staunchest advocates. Reporter C. R. Douglas called Drago "one of the most central, if unrecognized, figures" working on the viaduct issue ("Best of 2009 …"). Drago worked tirelessly behind the scenes to achieve consensus among a motley group of transportation experts and elected officials in support of a tunnel. Douglas reported: "... Drago was in every important meeting (many of which she convened), made some significant recommendations with respect to financing, and became an important liaison to City government when things got serious these last several months" ("Best of 2009 …"). Working closely with Mayor Nickels and Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis, Drago gathered a broad base of support from labor leaders, environmentalists, transit advocates, waterfront park advocates, and the business community. The matter was finally settled in 2009, when state and city leaders finally agreed to build a deep-bore tunnel.
Mayoral Campaign
On March 1, 2009, Drago announced that she would not be seeking re-election to the Seattle City Council. Many people assumed that meant she was retiring from politics completely. But in late May, she announced that she was running for mayor against incumbent Greg Nickels. She argued that Seattle had lost respect because of Nickels's leadership style and that she was the most viable challenger.
Drago was late to the mayoral race, which put her at a disadvantage for raising funds and public support ahead of the August primary. Many of her would-be donors had already contributed to Nickels's re-election campaign when she announced her candidacy. In the eyes of many Seattle voters, Drago failed to sufficiently distinguish herself from Nickels – with whom she agreed on many major policy issues – to stand out as a compelling candidate. Drago finished fifth in the primary, behind environmentalist Mike McGinn (b. 1959), business executive Joe Mallahan, Nickels, and former basketball player James Donaldson (b. 1957). Reflecting on her mayoral campaign, Drago said: "I have no regrets. I mean, I know I'll live longer by not having been mayor" (Interview).
King County Council
On January 5, 2010, just four days after completing her service on the Seattle City Council, Drago was sworn in as an interim member of the Metropolitan King County Council. She was selected to replace Dow Constantine (b. 1961) when he was elected to serve as King County Executive. As a condition of her appointment, Drago agreed not to seek election following her interim term.
Drago represented Council District 8 on the Metropolitan King County Council, serving the International District, West Seattle, Vashon Island, and Maury Island. She enjoyed the year she spent on the council because the issues, challenges, and geographic scope of the job were different from the work on the city council. Her most notable achievements as a King County councilmember were building support for a new South Park Bridge and sponsoring a measure for a new public facilities district to oversee the Washington State Convention Center.
Life After Public Office
After leaving public office, Drago spent about three years as a political consultant for Puget Sound Energy, engaging with small businesses and residents in Pioneer Square and the downtown waterfront. In February 2013, Drago was one of approximately 30 applicants to serve as an interim Port of Seattle commissioner. She was not among the finalists for the position, but her application is evidence of her ongoing interest in contributing to public life. In 2025, she continues to serve on the board of directors at Mary's Place, a social services agency for women and children, with which she has been affiliated since 1999.
Drago remains active with travel, family, and hobbies. As a councilmember, Drago traveled extensively with colleagues on trips packed with business meetings and public events. In contrast, she now travels for pleasure with childhood friends and has visited more than 80 countries. She enjoys gardening, walking, and spending time with her family, including four grandchildren and a great-grandchild.
Drago largely remained out of politics until 2024, when she and a group of friends and former City Council colleagues – Sue Donaldson, Margaret Pageler (b. 1940), Jean Godden (b. 1931), and Jane Noland (b. 1941) – worked together to identify and support candidates through the city council primary process. Drago and her friends pool their collective political wisdom and professional networks to help promising candidates navigate Seattle politics.
During the summer of 2024, Drago became involved with a group of fellow Pioneer Square residents and business owners to advocate for the development of the former Washington and Oregon Shipper's Cooperative Association (WOSCA) site, a 5-acre stretch of vacant land west of Lumen Field. Her group's vision for the land includes a historical interpretive center, public green space, housing in mixed-use buildings, and community amenities missing from south downtown – such as a daycare, dog park, public restroom, and pharmacy (Email, January 23, 2025). In 2025, the future of the WOSCA site remains unknown. What is clear, however, is that Drago's vision for that small section of Seattle mirrors her decades-long vision for the entire city: to be a safe, economically stable, and culturally vibrant community.
