We are just two months away from the most-contested election I can remember in the Valley. That’s not to say there haven’t been intensely competitive races among lots of candidates before this one — you can find references aplenty to such races in our archive — but it has been a while since any local elections have generated this much community interest, and this much activism.
In the next nine weeks (six until your ballots get mailed), you all have an overwhelming number of choices to make. For the Upper Valley’s 18 offices on the ballot, 19 counting the King County Council Position 3 seat, you have to differentiate between 32 candidates. That’s everything from fire protection districts with uncontested races to school board, park district, on up to the all-way Snoqualmie City Council race.
How will you possibly figure out who best represents your wishes at each of these levels?
We figure, it’s by asking the candidates what you want to know. So does the Snoqualmie Valley Chamber of Commerce, already busy scheduling the next series of candidates forums, in which we’ll ask the candidates about the things on the minds of people like you, their constituents.
That, of course, means, that it’s now time to hear from you. You, the voters, can provide the forum the issues-based questions that we will ask candidates in the races for Snoqualmie Mayor, Snoqualmie City Council, North Bend City Council, Snoqualmie Valley School Board, and the King County Council seat.
Wondering about county road maintenance plans? Ask Kathy Lambert and her challenger, John Murphy how they plan to fund this crucial issue for unincorporated areas.
Worried about contamination at Snoqualmie’s former Weyerhaeuser mill site? Challenge the 14 (not counting possible write-ins) people who want to govern the city on how they plan to protect our natural resources.
Had it with residential growth in all our Valley cities? Question city council candidates on the kinds of growth they will and won’t support, and why.
Curious about how the school district will deal with the state’s new education budget, Common Core, or dropout rates? Test the school board candidates with those questions.
Submitted questions will be compiled and assembled into a script, which a forum moderator will use to question the candidates at each of the upcoming public forums, but it will be your voice the candidates are hearing.
Because of the time constraints of each forum, we may not be able to ask every question.
Submit your candidate questions as early and often as you think of them. The deadline for submissions is noon Friday, Sept. 15. Send them to me at editor@valleyrecord.com or at P.O. Box 300, Snoqualmie, WA 98065. Include the race your question is for, along with your name, email address and phone number (for verification purposes only).
And don’t forget to check our website for updates on when the candidate forums will be scheduled.
We already have two forum dates confirmed, both coinciding with Snoqualmie Valley Chamber of Commerce luncheons, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., at The Club at Snoqualmie Ridge:
Wednesday, Sept. 27 – King County Council District 3 candidates, Kathy Lambert, incumbent, and John Murphy; and
Wednesday, Oct. 25 — Snoqualmie Mayor candidates, Matt Larson, incumbent, and Fuzzy Fletcher.
Additional forums are tentatively scheduled for:
Thursday, Oct. 5 – Snoqualmie City Council candidates, 6 to 8:30 p.m. at The Club at the Ridge, with social starting at 5:30 p.m.; and
Wednesday, Oct. 18 – North Bend City Council candidates, 5 to 6:30 p.m. at the Mount Si Senior Center, social starting at 4:45 p.m.
For updates, check our website at www.valleyrecord.com, or visit www.snovalley.org.
