[Letter by Tim Harris – Former Deputy Mayor and City Councilmember City of Carnation. Views expressed are those of the author, not the Living Snoqualmie website. You may submit letters of support for your candidate to info@livingsnoqualmie.com.]
It would be short-sighted for the Snoqualmie Valley to elect anyone other than Sarah Perry to the King County Council. In just one term, she’s delivered nearly $250 million in investments to our district—supporting environmental sustainability, transportation, affordable housing, public safety, the arts, and local nonprofits.
These aren’t vague promises—they’re real results. Increased funding for Snoqualmie Valley Transportation. Rideshare vans for local charities. A grant to build senior housing in Carnation. Crisis care centers. Full funding for the King County Sheriff’s Office in East King County. Grants for the arts. Sarah Perry has done more in four years than her predecessor did in a decade.
She’s effective because she has relationships that matter. She can pick up the phone and call state and federal leaders—and they answer. Her events bring decision-makers to the Valley, giving our community access to the people who shape policy. If re-elected, she’s poised to Chair the King County Council, giving us even more influence.
Her opponent, on the other hand, has focused on criticism without offering a clear plan. He talks about audits and oversight, but relied on the State Auditor to recommend changes after embezzlement in Snoqualmie. He claims strong ties to first responders, yet failed to act on serious issues in the Snoqualmie police department until a whistleblower forced the issue. And when asked what he’d change at the county level, he points to state laws and vague ideas he didn’t implement even in a small city.
Sarah Perry has helped the Valley grow on our terms. We’ve become a destination for arts, music, and festivals—drawing visitors, boosting local businesses, and preserving the natural beauty we love. That didn’t happen by accident. It happened because we had a representative who listened, fought for us, and delivered.
We can gamble on someone with no county experience and without the relationships to be successful on a nine person council—or we can re-elect someone who’s already bringing results.
Ballots arrive around October 16th. Let’s keep the momentum going.
Tim Harris
Former Deputy Mayor and City Councilmember
City of Carnation
Comments
She committed a criminal act by “doxing” ICE Officers and posting this information from The Indivisibles. This was unacceptable behavior and a lot worse that what caused a former Council Member to loose the election.
She reposted information she believed to be reliable in an effort to protect people who are unable to protect themselves. She has owned the mistake and apologized for it.
Her opponent ignored abused of police officers until a whistleblower made it impossible to ignore any longer. He has made no statement about the issue, nor taken any responsibility for his oversight failure.
I’ll take “mistake in defense of others” over “callous indifference” any day of the week.
Thanks for posting your thoughts about Sarah Perry.
I try to stay objective about what I want in the leaders I vote for, and for me, Sarah Perry has been a standout ever since her first election. She has performed ably, and shows evident compassion and understanding for the community she serves.
Didn’t know about the ice thing. Now shes definitely got my vote.
I’m going to explain why Councilwoman Sarah Perry will get my vote for reelection. But first, in the interest of transparency, let me say I have known her for 10-years and like her as a person.
I met Sarah when she joined the 5th Legislative District Democrats (5th Dems) and I developed an appreciation for her energy, smarts, and character. She took on the role of Precinct Committee Chair and built up our Precinct Committee Officers. The 5th Dems was an anemic group, and is now robust, and one of the most active LDs in Washington. Sarah was an important factor in building the 5th Dems, as was her beloved late husband, Senator Bill Ramos.
Sarah gets things done. One year Sarah led on our fund raiser and raising $90,000 for King Country Democratic Legislative Districts (LDs). That’s probably six times what we usually raise. The money was exclusively to go for electing Democratic candidates. When one LD used some of their money for a party, Sarah was angry. It was smear on her integrity and she said she would never do another fundraiser. And she didn’t.
Though I haven’t spoken directly about religion with her, I have gathered her faith is a driving force in her and Senator Ramos’s commitment to public service and building community. Hers is a faith where empathy is a central value. She believes in Jesus’s story of the Good Samaritan which literally says people of other religions can be good. She lives that belief by reaching out to our peaceful Muslim neighbors. “We the People” means all of us. And building community means inclusion.
For some years I represented the 5th Dems to the King County Democrats and served as their Ombudsman. When I went to write up a “Code of Conduct” for King County Dems, I called Sarah. She suggested, when speaking with someone you strongly disagree with, try to understand they have good motivations for their beliefs. I included that wisdom in our code of conduct.
Empathy requires respect for the hard work of taxpayers, and demands funds be spent carefully. Empathy requires compassion for the mentally ill. And empathy helps work across the aisle to get things done for our community.
Saint Paul: We look but threw a glass darkly. Todays dark glass is Ideology. Ideologs project their ideology onto the world, and fail to see the reality around them.
Sarah Perry will get my vote for being guided by empathy to find practical solutions for building our community.