I am amazed when I read what some people have written about Federal Way City Councilman Jack Dovey.

I have had the pleasure of working with Jack on many projects within our city and have experienced Jack’s sincere desire to improve Federal Way. He has a high level of integrity for the business community and the citizens of our city.

Jack was raised and went to school in Federal Way. He left to attend college and after graduation, he came back to his roots, Federal Way. Jack has continued the tradition and raised his family here too.  His wife volunteers at many Federal Way organizations. When Jack was the acting mayor, he started outreach community meetings so he could hear firsthand the citizens’ concerns. He has worked hard to bring ideas to the council for redeveloping our downtown core. He supports a performing arts center and has worked to develop a plan that we can be proud of, but is also a good investment for the city and community. He has worked on our behalf to improve and streamline our permitting process to encourage new development and to bring new jobs to our city.

Jack owns a small business in Federal Way and as a businessman, he knows how to read a balance sheet as well as a profit and loss statement. He approaches projects in terms of how is it a good investment for the city and our citizens or how can we streamline this project to save time and money. If anything, Jack is considered a penny pincher when it comes to spending our taxpaying funds. In tough economic times like this, we need someone to look carefully at every dollar spent.

I could go on about what Jack Dovey has done for our community, but I only have so much space here. I want to comment on Jack’s opponent and some of Jack’s critics. First, his opponent, Bob Celski, is a nice guy. But the question has to be asked, what has he done to improve our community while he has lived here and raised his family? He has not volunteered to give up his time to be on any city commissions, worked with Advancing Leadership or Communities in Schools or been a mentor for one of our students or other organizations such as the Multi Service Center or FUSION.

Jack has not only supported all these organizations, but he is part of them and devotes his time to them.  Bob has only been attending city council meetings since he decided to run for a council seat. In other words, he hasn’t paid his dues. For me, he hasn’t earned the right to be a council member because he really doesn’t know our community.

In closing, I would like to make a comment about a handful of Jack’s critics that always hang out at the council meetings and never have anything good to say about our city unless it involves their favorite person. I call them the City Hall Groupies. I would like to see them for once say something positive about our city and recognize how far Federal Way has come since becoming a city.

It is true, things could be better and mistakes have been made, but take a good look around and see how nice it looks today compared to 20 years ago. Enjoy our parks, drive in safety on our well paved streets that don’t flood and feel safe knowing that if an emergency happens, you will have a Federal Way police officer there within minutes. Jack can’t take all the credit, but you can be sure he was in there fighting for us in every way he can and trying to make our city a better place for all. My vote goes to the man that has proven beyond any doubt that he loves our city, is a team player and has our best interest at heart.

Merle Pfeifer, Federal Way