There is less than a month until the general election Nov. 7, and ballots will be arriving this week. I believe it is important for the citizens of Federal Way to know who the candidates are and whether they have earned their trust and support.
I signed on to help Roger Flygare because I trust and support him and because, in the time I have lived in Federal Way, I have grave concerns about his opponent, Martin Moore. I spent almost five years working across the country for a labor union, representing union members. My job was to get those members involved in the political process by interviewing candidates and endorsing them. We spent many hours looking at issues and also checking to see how trustworthy they had been. I taught them how to develop press releases to announce our endorsements in writing. All endorsements should be in writing. So, you can understand how concerned I was when Roger’s opponent announced his “endorsement” by the MLKing Central Labor Council when we knew for a fact that he had not been endorsed. The council had to contact him to remove that false claim from his website. Can Federal Way trust this candidate? I think not.
I also found out that when Roger’s opponent ran four years ago, the Democratic Party worked very hard to get him elected. And, what did he do after the election? He announced that he was going to become a Republican! Will he change back? Can Federal Way trust this candidate? I think not!
Another major concern had to do with the way the sale of the Weyerhaeuser property was handled. When the announcement was made, it was a fait accompli! There was no call for an environmental impact statement, which should have been a standard operating procedure, which should have included the economic impact. Had this been done, there would have been a part stating the impact on the Northlake neighborhood and the resulting property values on the homes in that adjacent neighborhood. At the very least, there should have been public hearings about this sale so the citizens of Federal Way could make their voices heard. This did not happen. But Roger’s opponent had an ace in the hole when it came time for part of the environmental community to give endorsements. One of the major players sitting on the committee was his college roommate. Did you hear my opponent demanding an EIS or public hearings? Do you think he deserved this endorsement?As a long-standing member of the environmental community, I would have questioned the wisdom of this endorsement given that the Weyerhaeuser issue is of major concern to this city. Can Federal Way trust this candidate? I think not!
Peggy Maze Johnson, Federal Way
