Issaquah Chamber Candidate Forum 9/25

Thank you to The Greater Issaquah Chamber of Commerce for hosting such an important candidate forum! It was a valuable opportunity for our local businesses and community members to connect with candidates running for City of Issaquah Government. As I committed during the forum, I'm sharing my responses to the questions that were asked. Transparency is a cornerstone of my campaign—I believe our community deserves to know exactly where all candidates stand on the issues that matter most to you.

Question 1: Why You're Running and Your Qualifications

I'm running for Issaquah City Council to balance progress with preservation, innovation with compassion, and development with sustainability. As someone who chose to make Issaquah home, I see both our tremendous potential and the critical challenges we face as our city grows. We need transparent, ethical governance that brings our community together. My campaign isn't about me—it's about us. I want to ensure every business that invests here and every resident who calls this home has the tools and resources to make their voices heard in shaping our city's future.

I also want to help our community make informed decisions as we navigate the inevitable trade-offs of government, balancing who we are with who we want to be as a city.

Top Two Things Constituents Should Know About Me

1. I'm a Strategic Problem-SolverThroughout my career, I've consistently transformed complex challenges into sustainable solutions. Whether launching a $2 million revenue-generating academic program, managing a $1 billion client portfolio in the private sector, or navigating intricate regulatory approvals, I deliver measurable results through collaborative leadership that builds consensus and implements lasting solutions.

2. I Lead with Transparency and an Inclusive VisionYou'll never have to guess where I stand on issues. I believe effective governance demands the same transparency as any impactful leadership. I'm committed to taking clear positions, explaining my reasoning, and remaining open to constructive dialogue.

Experience and Leadership Skills I Bring

Strategic Governance Expertise: With a doctorate in law and over 10 years leading mission-critical initiatives across academic, corporate, and nonprofit sectors, I bring proven expertise in policy development, regulatory compliance, and navigating complex approval processes—essential skills for effective municipal governance.

Financial and Program Management: I've successfully managed multimillion-dollar budgets, including a $5M program budget and $1 billion client portfolio. I understand how to balance fiscal responsibility with community needs while driving sustainable growth.

Stakeholder Engagement and Coalition Building: My track record includes transforming initial resistance into enthusiastic support for innovative initiatives. I've built high-performing, multicultural teams and established partnerships across continents. As your council member, I'll bring this same collaborative approach to uniting our diverse community around shared solutions.

Data-Driven Decision Making: I leverage comprehensive analysis to optimize resource allocation and measure impact. This evidence-based approach ensures our city's decisions are grounded in facts, not just good intentions.

Crisis Management and Adaptability: From managing Fortune 500 executive relationships in high-pressure scenarios to ensuring compliance across complex regulatory landscapes, I've demonstrated the crisis management skills essential for responsive municipal leadership.

Issaquah deserves a council member who combines strategic expertise with genuine compassion for our community. I'm ready to bring that balanced perspective to City Hall, working collaboratively to address our most pressing challenges while preserving what makes Issaquah special.

Question 2: Improving Issaquah's Electrical Capacity

This is one of the most important issues facing our growing community: ensuring reliable, affordable, clean energy for all of Issaquah.

1 - Building Local Energy Independence

I envision creating a local energy ecosystem where businesses and residents become true partners, not just customers—embodying the collaborative spirit that defines our community.

Here's how this would work:

• Community-Centered Investment: Local businesses sponsor residential solar installations, with homeowners gaining clean energy and lower bills while businesses earn renewable energy credits

• Shared Energy Access: Transform clean energy generation into a community asset where excess energy flows into community-managed battery storage, ensuring reliable power for all residents during peak demand

• Local Economic Benefits: Energy dollars circulate within our community instead of leaving for distant utility companies, creating local jobs and strengthening neighborhood resilience

2 - Building Infrastructure That Reflects Our Values

While PSE's Green Power Program is a start, true stewardship requires us to go further. Smart grid infrastructure with real-time monitoring and automated switching can prevent cascading failures that disproportionately impact vulnerable community members. This isn't just about technology—it's about ensuring everyone has access to reliable energy.

We need distributed energy resources throughout our neighborhoods that create both redundancy and opportunity:

• Solar panels and small wind turbines that respect our natural landscape

• Geothermal systems that work with our environment

• Battery storage that provides energy security for families and businesses alike

3 - Alignment with Regional Leadership

Washington's Clean Energy Transformation Act requiring carbon-free electricity by 2045 isn't just a mandate—it's an opportunity to demonstrate the innovative leadership Issaquah is known for. With 61% of Issaquah's emissions coming from buildings, our aggressive action on energy efficiency and electrification will serve as a model for other communities.

As your City Council member, I will advocate for sustainability by ensuring our energy transition strengthens both our environment and our community bonds. This isn't just about compliance—it's about creating competitive advantages that attract businesses and residents who share our values of environmental stewardship and community care.

The question isn't whether we can build a better energy future for Issaquah. The question is whether we're willing to make the upfront investments that will pay dividends for generations to come.

Question 3: Public Safety, Infrastructure, and Services Funding

My approach to balanced public funding is grounded in transparency and focuses on solutions while ensuring prosperity for every community member.

Foundational Criteria

Preventative Investment: Issaquah's rapid growth near major tech centers requires upstream investments that prevent costlier downstream problems. True fiscal prudence means robust funding for mental health services, affordable housing initiatives, and early childhood programs that strengthen families' financial stability—recognizing that many challenges stem from systems we can improve.

Data-Driven Decision Making: Establish clear metrics linking social determinants to public safety outcomes, tracking how investments in housing stability, mental health access, and economic opportunity correlate with reduced emergency service calls and stronger community connections.

Issaquah-Specific Implementation

Growth-Responsive Planning: Our ongoing development pressures require 20-30 year capital planning that protects our public lands while ensuring infrastructure supports both population growth and climate resilience. Infrastructure investments should incorporate smart technology and sustainable design that reduces long-term operational costs.

Regional Collaboration: Leverage partnerships with King County, neighboring cities, and regional organizations to share costs for specialized services like crisis intervention teams and workforce development. This maximizes our resources while maintaining local control.

Public-Private Innovation: Create joint funding mechanisms between public and private sectors that reflect our values of sustainability. These partnerships can fund innovative approaches to traffic management, digital government services, and economic development that benefit both business competitiveness and community wellbeing.

Transparent Implementation Framework

Integrated Community Outcomes: Structure budget processes around the results our community wants to see, rather than departmental silos. Housing stability, for example, might be funded through multiple departments but managed as a unified strategy with shared performance metrics.

Community-Driven Budgeting: Establish participatory budgeting processes for discretionary spending that ensure every resident has a voice. This builds public support for necessary investments while strengthening community engagement.

Financial Sustainability: Maintain debt-to-revenue ratios that preserve financial flexibility while ensuring adequate investment in both traditional infrastructure and the social infrastructure that supports thriving families and businesses.

Question 4: Facilitating Growth While Maintaining Community Standards

Authentic Growth Through Environmental Stewardship

Environmental stewardship is one of our greatest identities and the foundation of our quality of life. As I've emphasized in my campaign, Issaquah doesn't need to reinvent itself—it needs to be itself. This principle should guide every growth decision we make.

The Competitive Advantage of Community Character

When environmental protection becomes the foundation of what makes a community attractive and livable, it transforms from a constraint into a competitive advantage. This reflects our commitment to protecting our parks and maintaining our exceptional quality of life.

My approach emphasizes:

Values-Based Development: Thoughtfully balancing progress with preservation means choosing development that enhances rather than replaces our distinctive character. Growth strategies that strengthen our environmental identity attract businesses and residents who share our community values.

Innovation Through Environmental Leadership: My Local Energy Partnership Model demonstrates how environmental identity can drive innovation in development practices. When we lead with our values of sustainability and community collaboration, we create models that other communities want to emulate.

Practical Implementation

Community-Centered Development Standards: Development standards should require meaningful community benefit. This means housing solutions that strengthen families' financial stability while protecting our natural spaces, and commercial development that enhances rather than diminishes our community character.

Transparent Community Engagement: Every major development decision should include meaningful resident input. When people have a real voice in growth choices, we create development that truly serves community needs rather than just developer interests.

Regional Context with Local Character: While we benefit from our proximity to major employment centers, we must ensure that growth serves Issaquah's distinctive identity rather than homogenizing us with generic suburban development.

The Path Forward: Unity Through Shared Values

Building Bridges: Instead of creating conflict between preservationists and growth advocates, we can unite around shared values of environmental stewardship, economic opportunity, and community well-being.

Empowering Community Voice: True community empowerment means giving residents the tools and resources to shape growth decisions. When people feel heard and valued in the process, they're more likely to support thoughtful development that serves everyone's interests.

The most successful communities don't choose between growth and preservation—they choose growth strategies that enhance their distinctive character. By staying true to what makes us unique while leading with compassion and sustainability, we create lasting value for both business and community.

This isn't about stopping change—it's about ensuring that change strengthens rather than weakens the community bonds and environmental stewardship that make Issaquah a place where everyone can thrive.

Question 5: What Else Would You Like to Share?

The Power of Neighborhood-Level Investment

Neighborhoods are the fundamental building blocks of civic engagement and social resilience. They act as crucial intermediaries between individual needs and broader municipal goals, and I believe we're not leveraging this powerful resource nearly enough.

Neighborhood programs provide unique value because they operate at the scale where policy meets lived experience. Unlike state-wide initiatives that can feel abstract, neighborhood-level interventions address immediate, tangible concerns while building the social capital that strengthens democratic participation.

For our business community, this translates to more stable, engaged communities that support local commerce and provide reliable workforce development. When neighborhoods thrive, businesses have stronger local markets and community partnerships.

Most importantly, neighborhoods are where we practice citizenship daily—where abstract values like equity and civic responsibility become concrete through shared projects, mutual aid, and collective problem-solving. Whether due to proximity or the unique way we invest in community ties, neighborhoods remain one of our most important support structures.

The Bottom Line: Investing in neighborhood programs strengthens our capacity for self-governance and community resilience. This isn't just about community building—it's about creating the infrastructure for effective local democracy and sustainable economic development from the ground up.