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Karen Valenzuela
130 East Lee St.
Tumwater, WA 98501
236-3158 day
357-7516 evening
[email protected]
1. The position of County Commissioner is the only elective
office beyond that in whichI currently serve that Ive ever
seriously considered. I revel in the policymaking aspectsof my job
as a City Councilmember, and enjoy the challenge of shaping
ourcomprehensive plan to reflect the dreams and desires of our
community. I love engagingwith my community and fellow policymakers
in this process, and though its neverpossible to please all the
people all the time, its nonetheless gratifying to come to
conclusion if not consensus with our community after a long
process of meeting,listening, returning to the drawing board,
perfecting and, finally, celebrating. Serving as aCounty
Commissioner in these challenging times would present the
opportunity for me todo this kind of work full-time as my major
endeavor, rather than in the after hours modein which I now do my
City Council work. I look forward to having just one job, as
anelected even if the hours are 24/7rather than fitting my elected
duties around my full-time day job.'
2. While I wouldnt claim to be uniquely qualified to fill this
vacancy --that is, I believethere are a number of extremely
qualified people in our community who could do this jobI do feel
that experience as a local elected on the Tumwater City Council for
the past
nine years prepares me well to assume this position. County
Commissioners also fill avery important role as the local Board of
Health. Ive worked in public health for 20years, and have a broad
and deep understanding of the public health needs and
challengesthat face our community, and how to apply policy
solutions to those needs. There's agreat deal of overlap between
the goals of public health healthy people in healthycommunities--
and the goals local electeds strive to achieve in every decision we
make.Applying public health principles to my decision making as an
elected will continue, Ibelieve, to serve me as well as a County
Commissioner as it has as a CityCouncilmember. Additionally, Ive
served on many interjurisdictional committees* as aCity
Councilmember, and have interacted extensively with County
Commissioners andCity Councilmembers from other jurisdictions,
which gives me a vantage point from
which to understand the issues facing local governments in our
county. Ive served forseveral years as parliamentarian to two
organizations and have many years' involvementin leadership
positions in several professional organizations.** I'm well versed
in theprocedurally appropriate ways to conduct meetings, both
formal as well as less formalcommunity meetings. My philosophy of
governance is openness and accessibility,engagement with the
community, and listening. Always listening.
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3. The person appointed to fill this position must be
immediately ready to both do the jobof County Commissioner, while
at the same time beginning a virtually non-stop 2-yearcampaign to
keep the job. Im experienced at both, as this is similar to the
circumstancesI faced when I was appointed to the Tumwater City
Council in 2000. I believe myexperience on City Council over the
last nine years and the fact that I have name
recognition in our community will stand me in good stead in both
roles as aCommissioner and campaigner. As an active member of the
Thurston County Democratsfor several years, I believe Ill have
significant support building a campaign team, andwill benefit from
the advice and experience of fellow activists in my role as
aCommissioner. Im an energetic, hard working and experienced
policymaker andcampaigner, and am prepared for the considerable
challenges appointment to this positionwill present.
4. Three things I want to accomplish as a County Commissioner
are:a. review the Countys revenue sources and plan for a rational
approach to budgeting
that doesnt deplete reserves or omit providing essential
services in public healthand safety to county residents. For
example, in the case of some of the countyspublic health programs,
I believe it is penny-wise but pound-foolish to cutspending of
local money when that money leverages millions in state and
federalfunds for programs in our community that have proven
outcomes and withoutwhich, we all incur longer-term social and
financial costs. I believe in makinginvestments now that reap
benefits in the long term.
b. review the Countys adherence to the spirit and letter of the
Growth ManagementAct, strengthening where possible and considering
rezoning where necessary topreserve the amazing environmental
assets we have in our rivers, forests, habitatpreserves,
agricultural lands and open space. I believe the main reason
mostdevelopment takes place in the unincorporated parts of our
county rather than inour urban areas as the GMA encourages is
because its considerably less
expensive to develop in the county, due largely to the lack of
impact fees. At thesame time, this lack of impact fees deprives the
county of revenue needed toprovide infrastructure and services to
people in these newly developing areas.This sort of development
pattern contributes to sprawl, damages our ability topreserve open
space and forests and agricultural lands --which I really believe
thepeople of our county want to do, requires constant
road-building, and contributesheavily to pollution and, ultimately,
to climate change. To conform more closelywith both the spirit and
the letter of the GMA, county development policy shouldsupport
cities in restraining sprawl and containing growth within the
urbanboundaries. This pattern and policy practiced by the county is
long overdue forchange. And of course, Thurston County must fully
engage with the Puget Sound
Partnership: county land use policies must help, not hinder,
efforts to clean upPuget Sound.
c. meet regularly with the local governments in Thurston County,
including the Portof Olympia, to more collaboratively plan for a
future that is prosperous,sustainable, and equitable, which can
only happen through true joint planning.Most of the cities in
Thurston County have begun taking steps to confront climatechange;
the County must follow suit and cease using lack of money as the
excuse
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to put off this important work. Climate change work is something
we can nolonger afford to treat as an expense we cannot afford.
The major initiatives I've instigated or supported as a Tumwater
City Councilmember ofwhich I'm particularly proud include
Tumwater's sister city relationship with Mubende,
Uganda; the Tumwater Farmers Market; and Tumwater's climate
change work, begun twoyears ago with our signing on to the US
Mayors Climate Protection Agreement andjoining ICLEI (International
Conference on Local Environmental Initiatives). In additionto the
more routine work all City Councilmembers and County Commissioners
mustundertake daily, I believe it is also important to look beyond
the borders of ourcommunity and engage in efforts that help or
improve places and people wherever it isneeded, whenever we're
able. As a County Commissioner, I would continue governingby this
philosophy. We face unprecedented times now, which will test the
courage andfortitude and stick-to-it-iveness of us all. I think
people are looking for leaders to workwith who are willing to
listen to all ideas and consider completely new ways to
confrontwhat lies ahead, involving all sectors of our community in
solving our problems. I seemyself among those leaders.
______________________________________________________*Intercity
Transit Authority; Human Services Review Council; Thurston
Regional
Planning Council; CapComm; Solid Waste Advisory Committee;
Thurston CountyHOME Consortium; Thurston Climate Action
Team**American Public Health Association; Washington State Public
Health
Association; Washington State Environmental Health
Association
