Leah Boehm-Brady is a lot of things — a retired teacher, an artist, a gardener, a wife and a resident of Federal Way — but what makes her stand out as the Mirror’s Citizen of the Month is her passion surrounding one of the most controversial development proposals Federal Way has seen in many years.

“I’m surprised, I feel honored,” she said when she found out about the nomination. “Gosh, why me? I’m just a regular person.”

Boehm-Brady was the leading force in organizing more than 80 advocates against the construction of a high density, 3-6 story, mixed-use apartment complex called the High Point project.

While she won some and lost some in her efforts to appeal the project last August, Boehm-Brady was diligent in everything she did leading up to that Hearing Examiner decision.

“What stands out in my book about Leah is that she saw something happen she didn’t like and was concerned about it,” said Councilwoman Susan Honda, who nominated her for Citizen of the Month. “She came to City Hall, complained about it and did her best to make sure [the project] fit into the neighborhood.”

Honda said Boehm-Brady and the residents who stood behind her never tried to stop the project but sought ways for it to fit into their neighborhood.

“Instead of sitting back and letting things happen, she actually organized people, had experts come in and look at the property,” Honda said. “It’s just unusual a citizen would do what she did.”

Boehm-Brady’s concern over the project, which is slated to be built at the former school district bus barn site on South 320th Street, was not just about aesthetics but about the privacy and health of her fellow neighbors and traffic impact to the entire city.

The project appeals she submitted cited concerns about whether contamination cleanup would affect the health of those who lived near the nine-acre site. And trees that currently act as a buffer between the buildings were to be taken out, despite the privacy they could provide between the single-family homes and multi-story apartment units.

And while those were just two issues the High Point project appellants expressed, several others were detailed throughout a five hour, 45 minute appeal hearing on July 28.

“If we had more of her, it would be amazing,” Honda said, stating that she believes more people should be involved in city issues like Boehm-Brady was.

Boehm-Brady said standing up for what she believes in is something she’s done before.

“I think if you see something that needs to be done, you should do it,” she said.

Before she lived in Federal Way, Boehm-Brady got involved in speaking with her Council at the time about an Albertsons project that was supposed to go in next to her home. She ended up getting the land rezoned to residential and because of her efforts, was nominated to run for City Council. Although she was unable to serve as a Councilwoman, she kept fighting for the people.

After she moved to Auburn a while back, she had some problems with the racing schedule of Pacific Raceways and through several public records requests, meetings with former King County Councilman Bob Ferguson and ordinance analysis, she said the issue was taken up in court.

Boehm-Brady has lived in Federal Way for three years and has been involved with FUSION during her time in Auburn. Her art and home garden have been featured in the Federal Way Symphony’s annual garden tour. Boehm-Brady’s art has been featured at the Multi-Service Center and has been sold and produced in the Puget Sound region for more than 40 years.

She attended the University of Washington and earned her bachelor’s in fine arts degree in ceramic art before she earned her bachelor’s in art education. She was hired by the Kent School District to teach ceramics and spent the next 30 years working at Kentridge High School, Cedar Heights and Kent-Meridian High School.

For more information, visit leahboehm.com.