Executive candidate takes walk through North Bend

July 17, 2009

By Michael Rowe

By Michael Bayless Rowe

King County executive candidate Ross Hunter knocked on doors in a North Bend neighborhood July 9.

“I just want to hear from people what county issues are important to them,” Hunter said.

Hunter, a legislator in Washington state’s House of Representatives from Medina, has been knocking on doors all over King County this summer. He said he wants to learn more about what issues are important in different parts of the county. Door-knocking is something he started doing when he first ran for office in 2003.

With a roll of voters and a printout of the area from Google maps, Hunter and two of his campaign staff members visited homes off Mountain View Boulevard.

Hunter is one of eight candidates who are running to be the next King County executive after long-time county executive Ron Sims resigned to take an appointment as Deputy Secretary for Housing and Urban Development in the Obama administration.

His opponents include State Sen. Fred Jarrett, King County Councilmen Larry Phillips and Dow Constantine, former TV news anchor Susan Hutchison, engineer and businessman Alan Lobdell, Seattle lawyer Stan Lippman, and Seattle resident Goodspaceguy. The Aug. 18 primary will determine the top two candidates, who will square off in the November general election.

Hunter hopes to be the first person from the Eastside to be elected as King County executive. An Eastside resident has been appointed to the executive position, but has never won an election.

At one of the first homes he stopped at in North Bend, he met Kelly Kauer. Like Hunter, Kauer is a former Microsoft employee. She is a stay-at-home mom now with two young children.

“I felt like he presented himself well, and I think the county really needs someone with private sector business experience,” Kauer said.

Kauer did not know about Hunter’s campaign for King County executive until she met him. During their talk, Hunter emphasized that he wants to make King County more accountable. He talked about how the Metro mass-transit service costs about 20 percent more in King County than in similar areas. He said that he wants to get a handle on King County’s costs so that service to areas like North Bend do not have to be cut in tough times.

“He seems to really care about the issues of the entire county,” Kauer said.

She said that she plans to do more research on Hunter’s platform, before she decides who to cast her vote for.

After meeting Kauer, Hunter continued knocking on doors in the neighborhood and talking with other residents, before leaving for a meeting in Bothell. While walking back to his car, he said that getting out and meeting with people in different parts of the county was important for learning what’s going on. He noted that the unique geography of the county means that there are different problems in different places.

“You don’t find these things out, unless you come out and see them,” Hunter said.

Reach reporter Michael Bayless Rowe at mrowe@snovalleystar.com or 392-6434, ext. 248. To comment on this story, go to www.snovalleystar.com.