North Bend City Council race focuses on jobs
October 13, 2011
The two candidates facing off for an open seat on the North Bend City Council have one word on their lips: jobs.
Piper Muoio and Ryan Kolodejchuk both want to bring businesses and jobs to North Bend.
But they have different ideas on how to do that and what that means.
Ryan Kolodejchuk
After a lifetime of as a business owner, Kolodejchuk wants to bring his experience of building a business from the ground up and his no-nonsense approach to the City Council.
Ryan Kolodejchuk Occupation: Small business owner Website: www.voteforryank.com
North Bend needs to work with businesses to make it easier for them to locate here, he said.
School Board candidates to appear at forum
October 13, 2011
The Snoqualmie Valley PTSA Council will host a candidates’ forum for school board candidates 6:30 p.m. Oct. 13.
Five of the six candidates will appear. Valley parent Stephen Kangas will appear on behalf of candidate Peggy Johnson and will read her answers to the questions.
Cathy Renner, the PTSA Council’s legislative chair, said the event will be a forum, not a debate, with the candidates receiving and answering the questions in advance.
The candidates’ answers to the questions will be posted online at www.svptsacouncil.org.
Sharp differences between Snoqualmie City Council candidates
October 5, 2011
Kingston Wall Occupation: Small business owner Website: www.friendsof-kingstonwall.com.
Both candidates for Snoqualmie City Council Position No. 4 — incumbent Kingston Wall and former Councilman Terry Sorenson — want to ensure the city’s continued fiscal health.
But they differ greatly when asked about the leadership of Snoqualmie Mayor Matt Larson and his administration.
Terry Sorenson Occupation: Federal employee Website: www.terry- sorenson.com
Wall is a strong supporter of Larson, who cruised to re-election in 2009 but has drawn criticism from some residents since then.
Sorenson’s voice has been among those questioning Larson’s push for a community center on Snoqualmie Ridge and annexation of a former Weyerhaeuser mill site. That makes him the only City Council candidate to have publicly criticized any major policy decisions made by the city.
Oct. 10 is deadline to register to vote in November election
October 5, 2011
Snoqualmie Valley residents face choices in city council, school board and various district races, plus a series of state ballot measures, on the November ballot.
The deadline for people to register online or by mail to vote is Oct. 10.
Qualified residents can register in person at King County Elections in Renton or a registration annex at the King County Administration in Seattle.
Proposed redrawing of County Council districts keeps the upper Snoqualmie Valley together
September 28, 2011
Snoqualmie, North Bend and surrounding communities will remain in the same King County Council district under a final plan released last week by the committee responsible for redrawing the local political map.
The proposed map keeps the upper Snoqualmie Valley together in District 3 while rebalancing the county’s population between its nine districts. Read more
A host of state initiative measures fill out this year’s ballot
September 23, 2011
Though initiatives 1125 (highway tolling) and 1183 (liquor privatization) receive the most attention, Washington voters must decide other important issues on the Nov. 8 ballot.
- Initiative 1163 requires training and background checks for employees in adult family homes. Washington voters passed a similar measure, Initiative 1029, in 2008, but it withered in the Legislature due to budget shortfalls.
- Read more
Costco-backed I-1183 aims to remove state from liquor business
September 23, 2011
Months after a measure to privatize the state’s Prohibition-era liquor system failed, Issaquah-based Costco ordered another round, and spearheaded a similar measure for the November ballot.
Initiative 1183 aims to remove the state from the business of distributing and selling hard liquor. The measure is less comprehensive than Initiative 1100, a Costco-backed privatization measure rejected last November.
If passed, I-1183 calls for state-run liquor stores to close by June 2012. The measure also aims to require the state to license private enterprises to sell and distribute hard liquor, set license fees based on sales and regulate licensees.
King Conservation District unveils online voting for board election
February 16, 2011
The little-noticed election for a King Conservation District board seat kicked off Feb. 15 and, for the first time, district voters in Snoqualmie Valley and elsewhere can cast ballots online.
The monthlong election is for a supervisor seat on the board of the conservation district — the agency responsible for promoting sustainable use of natural resources, and providing information and technical assistance to landowners.
The electorate must choose among Kent farmer Bruce Elliott, Redmond real estate agent Teri Herrera, Duvall farmer Eric Nelson and Sammamish retiree Preston Prudente for the open seat.
“We are pleased to have a full slate of candidates for our inaugural online election,” board Chairman Bill Knutsen said in a statement.
Members handle a $6.5 million budget and offer guidance to staff members and for district programs. Supervisors also help to identify critical conservation needs in the district and seek feedback about conservation programs from district residents.
Chairman of 5th Legislative District Republicans re-elected
February 16, 2011
The 5th Legislative District GOP chairman, Bob Brunjes, has been elected to a third term. Brunjes, a Snoqualmie resident, was elected Feb. 1 to lead the Republican stronghold in a mostly blue Western Washington.
The veteran activist and organizer oversees 182 precinct committee officers from Snoqualmie Pass to Sammamish to Maple Valley and part of Renton.
In recent years Democrats have made gains in traditionally conservative districts, but the 5th District has remained a firm bastion for the GOP. Across the state, Republicans regained some of those losses in last fall’s election.
“We still have plenty of work to do,” Brunjes said in a news release. “We need to get Washington back on track with a sensible budget and no new taxes.”
Dino Rossi falls short in U.S. Senate bout
November 10, 2010
Republican Dino Rossi, a Sammamish resident and former Issaquah legislator, faltered in a hard-fought U.S. Senate race to the incumbent, Democrat Patty Murray.
“I ran for the Senate because I believe we need a basic course correction from where Washington, D.C., has been taking us and to make sure this country is as free, as strong and as prosperous in the future as it has been in the past to preserve the best of America for future generations,” Rossi said in a concession statement released Nov. 4. “That was a message that found a very receptive audience all across this state, though not quite receptive enough.”
Rossi campaigned as a fiscal conservative, and used the years he spent as a budget architect in Olympia as a touchstone in the U.S. Senate campaign.
Murray, bolstered by strong turnout in true-blue King County, built a slim lead on Election Day until more than 60,000 votes separated the candidates.
Rossi stumbled in the 2004 and 2008 races for the Governor’s Mansion to Democrat Chris Gregoire. He offered no hints about future political plans.
“The lesson I leave you with is one we learned as kids: We’re all in this together,” he said in the statement. “If Washington, D.C., doesn’t act to help the economy grow and solve this massive spending and debt, it’s going to hurt us all. It won’t distinguish by political party.”
