Redmond has some huge issues facing us. Most of them won’t be solved without strong relationships with our neighboring city and state officials. Mayor John Marchione has built those relationships over many years. First he took the time to learn about Redmond government as a council member. Even growing up in the city, the son of a former mayor and with years of experience working for King County, Snoqualmie, Kent and Federal Way, he understood that to be a strong leader in Redmond, he’d need to learn how the city and government of Redmond work today. As mayor, he has continued to build relationships in Redmond and in the region, meeting regularly with colleagues and pursuing positions on boards such as Sound Transit, Cascade Water Alliance and the Puget Sound Regional Council. Those relationships take time to build.

I am a big fan of political competition. I think it’s healthy to have opponents with differing positions to give the voters the opportunity to really think through how different issues can be addressed. However, when opponents come to the table with no experience and no indication of a desire to gain that experience before day one of a job, I am concerned.

Steve Fields is claiming to be the better candidate for the position of mayor, yet he has served on no city commissions and doesn’t even attend council meetings. By contrast, Mayor Marchione built a career around public service, from his MPA (Master of Public Administration degree) to his years of work in local government. He learned the ropes and he gained the experience necessary to make him successful.

Fields may have potential as a leader and I’m glad he has a vision for Redmond. But like all effective leaders, he must be willing to take the time to learn about the organization that he’d like to lead. He needs to show me that he has an interest in getting involved in Redmond, that he can lead a commission or at least participate in city politics before he can earn my vote. Without doing his homework on our city and what it takes to lead it, his campaign feels like an attempt to make a change away from a candidate he doesn’t like, rather than a call to move toward a better option.

Jeni Craswell

Redmond