Island Advocate

You can name them. Judy Clibborn, Fred Jarrett, heading that way Steve Litzow and the list goes on. You know those former mayors and council members who promised to represent Mercer Island and go on to government in King County, Olympia and elsewhere only to throw our interests under the bus! These people who look you in the eye and say they're there for Islanders. Sure, like all good politicians, they send a bone or two our way, but when push comes to shove ideology, political ambition or both put Islanders in their place at the back of the line. Funny how the citizens of Montlake, Clyde Hill and Medina don't seem to have that problem. It's pretty clear my opponent is an ideological activist.  It's her supporters, in their new positions of power, that are costing our town time, money, inconvenience, and frustration. Now that she's off to Olympia, do we really expect anything different from her?

Worse yet she claims she can keep both jobs. Which side of the table will she be on for tolling, growth management, downtown development, Olympia's or ours? What happens when the business of the State Legislature becomes too demanding? Do any of us think that it's realistic that she'll really want or be able to keep both positions for four years? Will she stay on council just long enough to cement policies in place that will leave Islanders defenseless against her future political ambitions ala Judy Clibborn? In the likelihood that she does leave early, our citizens will be short changed once again, because it will be the council, not us, that picks our new representative. We face the very real possibility that someone, rejected by citizens at the ballot box, could be chosen by political cronies to sit on the council. Just in the manner  my opponent got her position in the first place. These appointments, political alliances and favors remind me of 15th century  royal England  not the 'We the People' government we love in America.

We used to have mayors and council members who represented us, who said they'd stand in the middle of the road before they let Olympia politicians force on us  their version of a freeway that would've transformed our Island in irreperable ways.  They fought for us not their own aspirations. We ended up with a win win situation and a great place to live. Since then, councils with majorities similar to today's have slowly been giving back everything we fought to gain. Our deputy mayor traded our SOV access for a parking lot that will be filled with off Island cars!

I love living here! I will be one of those guys willing to stand in the middle of the road to fight for  Mercer Island! I will be an Island Advocate!