The key issue in this race is experience – what kind of experience gives a legislator more resources to solve problems, more authority to speak on behalf of her constituents, more credibility to work on the state budget. Let’s compare each of those areas:
Problem Solving: My profession as an architect is all about problem solving. Although the school of hard knocks can be a good teacher, a solid university education and 30 years of professional practice provide me with a greater breadth and depth of resources to bring to the conference table.
Authority: Those who have actually “been there and done that” have more authority to speak on a subject than those who have listened and observed. As a successful small business owner, I have more authority to speak on behalf of the business community than my opponent who has no successful business experience. As a long time rural health care advocate, as recognized by my election to leadership on the Washington Rural Health Association Board and appointment to the Empire Health Foundation Board, I have real authority to speak on health care issues.
Credibility: I have managed major project budgets, been accountable for public and private money, and have real life experience in trimming budgets to fit the revenue available. That’s just the kind of experience we need when the state is finally going to have to face up to all of its program commitments and entitlements in excess of projected revenue. My opponent’s experience with budgets? She and her husband have a Superior Court judgment against them for non-payment of over $12,000 in credit card debt. She had a good job at the time, they just weren’t paying their bills. Folks have been asking me the same rhetorical question for the last two months - why would we send someone to Olympia to work on the state budget when she can’t manage her own money? She has no credibility to speak on fiscal responsibility.
Simple statements of fact are not negative campaigning. The “negative” part of that last paragraph has already been reported in several newspapers, so repeating it here is merely providing readers of the blog with the same context as regular newspaper readers. The choice in this race does come down to which kind of experience you can trust – the proven leadership of a long time successful private business owner or a short career as a government aide catering to and carrying out the directions of others. The 7th Legislative District deserves proven leadership.
