If all my opponents can do is play childish games ...well ... Good Luck With That

One of the things I talked about in my kick off was “Leadership” and “Taking the High Road, not the Easy Road”.  As I promised in an earlier post, I intend to take the high road and not stoop to childish games or dirty campaigns.  Unfortunately, those who oppose me do not believe the same thing.

First, it is not unusual to have opponents showing up at the same public facility you are holding an event.  I have absolutely no problem with that and in fact I am sure the owners appreciate the additional revenues.  I actually have no problem with my opponent (who by the way will only fund my opposition, he will not run himself) passing out free t-shirts with my picture and www.anybodybutrich.com offering anyone who wore one free beer for the evening.  Again, I am sure the owners of the Brewery thank you for the business.  But I wonder if he realizes how childish it made him look.  Here I have 50 people stopping in to wish me well, purchasing their own beer, and having a good time, and he had to bribe people (most of whom have no idea who I am or why he opposes me) to wear these shirts.  Oh well, good luck with that.

As for the website he is promoting.  It is a single page with only a link to a KOMO news report made even prior to the last election.  In August of 2007, I agreed to meet with members and supporters of the Latino community who felt they were being targeted by Pacific Police.  At this meeting they expressed there was fear in the Latino Community and for the fact that they had fear, I apologized.  I stand behind that statement today as I stood behind it then.  That does not however mean that I agreed with everything that this group wanted or that I was apologizing for the actions of our Police Officers.  I believe that when any group feels that they cannot meet with their elected officials out of fear, that is wrong and we need to do what we can to open those lines of communication and dispel that fear.  To date, I believe that the City of Pacific is one of the few cities that has actually dealt with this issue rather than sweeping it under the rug or move to either political extreme.

I am proud of the City of Pacific and what we have accomplished.  I am proud of my part in building community and empowering citizens and business to take an active role in their own destiny.  I am proud of the support I have to run for another term as Mayor.  Our citizens want a Mayor who is more interested in making our city a better place to live than one who was put there by those who do not want to follow the rules.  But if my opposition can only play childish games instead of dealing with the issues that matter in our community well all I can say is “Good Luck With That”