Dear Editor,
Joe Larson is passionate about Snoqualmie. He serves our City and our Valley as a volunteer in several capacities, and now is the time to promote him to the position of Snoqualmie’s next City Councilmember.
During the past few years, I served alongside Joe on the Snoqualmie Planning Commission and have seen, first-hand, his dedication and knowledge of Snoqualmie’s comprehensive planning process—specifically in the areas of Vision & Policy Implementation, Economic Development, Housing, Community Character, Environment, Land Use, Transportation, and Capital Facilities & Utilities. I encourage you to view Snoqualmie’s Comprehensive Plan, which Joe was a key contributor in developing at: www.ci.snoqualmie.wa.us/Departments/Planning/ComprehensivePlan.aspx
As a former Marine, military service is an important aspect I look at when voting for elected leaders. During Joe’s service in the Army, he enlisted as a soldier and was promoted to the officer ranks. He trained after 9/11 as a linguist (Arabic) at the prestigious Defense Language Institute in Monterey Bay, CA. He served in the fields of intelligence and military police, so he has had a high level support and proficiency in the areas of public safety, emergency preparedness, and law enforcement that our City demands. To me this means he has high moral character that will be a “public first” approach.
Joe also worked with the Snoqualmie Valley Hospital District and their elected Commissioners to develop a Valley-wide Community Health Needs Assessment. The purpose of this assessment was to identify key areas where our community can take action to improve overall health and reduce health inequities. The greatest outcome of Joe’s work increased community consensus in the process of evaluating how best to characterize, measure, and improve community health. As Joe noted in his assessment, “This does not necessarily mean creating new social programs and initiatives, but rather developing supportive community cooperation that shares the mindset that the opportunity to enjoy good health is a right for all.”
Please view Joe’s complete assessment at the following link: www.snoqualmiehospital.org/wp-content/uploads/CHNA-2014-02.pdf
After reviewing Joe’s contributions to our community, you can see Joe has a sincere interest and is a strong advocate for all of Snoqualmie. Joe truly represents the best interests of Snoqualmie.
When your ballot arrives in the mail, please join me in voting for Joe! To learn more about Joe, please visit www.GoJoe4Council.com.
Tom Tice
City of Snoqualmie, Planning Commissioner
Former US Marine
Comments
I don’t live in Snoqualmie but this is a mistake. Brothers involved in governing the same small city? This mistake would be something the city could not reverse. Nepotism has a place in passing along a family business.. Is the city of Snoqualmie interested in a “family business”.. it will be interesting to see what the registered voters of the city do. Hmm. .interesting stuff all round.
In the spirit of full disclosure, I have the privilege of currently serving Snoqualmie residents on the City Council, and I do not endorse either candidate in this race, as I encourage the voters to research and decide who my co-worker will be next year.
When it comes to smaller towns and civic-minded families, it is not rare for different family members, who don’t always see eye-to-eye, to hold elected office in the same district. This happened several times within municipalities in and around Snoqualmie Valley during the past several years (The Seattle Times ran a positive article on this very topic a few years back). As pointed out earlier in the week in previous comment section, it is not nepotism, and it is legal and ethical under current election code and state law to elect qualified candidates, who are related, within the same district.
An example of this took place not too long ago right next door in North Bend when the husband and wife team of Jack and Elaine Webber served on the North Bend City Council together at the same time. The following 2001 Snoqualmie Valley Record article (which has the incorrect date of Oct 3, 2008) highlights the family team who later served together on City Council:
http://www.valleyrecord.com/opinion/30252604.html#
On a positive note, we have civic-minded residents in Snoqualmie (two of them being Joe Larson and Charles Peterson) make a real difference in our community, and we don’t have another uncontested race for City Council, which commonly happens in the Upper Valley.
In contrast, another city across the Sound had national attention during this year’s primary election when an incumbent husband was opposed by his wife, when they ran against each other for the SAME elected position:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/married-couple-12-years-face-wash-election-article-1.2223494
Our ballots arrive in the mail soon, and I encourage you to research the candidates and vote for the one who best represents you and your interests.
Heather Munden
City of Snoqualmie
City Council, Position No. 5
I also do not live in Snoqualmie but I would recommend that Joe Larson put his volunteer efforts to other good Valley causes and drop his candidacy for this position in Snoqualmie city government. Whatever his good intentions it would be best if he wait until his brother is no longer the Mayor,
I live in Snoqualmie and know Joe. He is a man of integrity and having a brother myself, I know there is no guarantee that he and his brother will agree on everything. However, this is nothing new in Snoqualmie, the entire tribe is related to each other and have run this town for decades.