Support Karen Crowe for Maple Valley City Council | Letter

After watching the mayor’s recent performance at the council debate, I feel the need to educate Maple Valley. I am a long time resident of Maple Valley who also happens to own a business in the city. It is for these reasons that I feel a strong responsibility to others in the community. In any city the overall health can be determined by the mayor and council’s management of resources. I feel that our current mayor has zero regard for small business and does not value it as a city resource.

October 29, 2011 8:12 pm

This is the time of year that many of us have grown tired and weary. Our kids are excited about Halloween, the leaves are changing colors, there is a fresh breeze in the air and the rest of our world is littered with campaign signs. Until this year, I was one to complain and then try to ignore those pesky signs, but fortunately I was asked to share in the campaign of someone running for City Council. Let me tell you, this had been a learning experience. First you are excited about the person you represent, then you get tons of exercise door belling and sign waving, and then the “other shoe drops” – things turn nasty, personal mud is being slung, you unfortunately see what campaigning is all about, and finally relationships are strained and respect is lost for those you may once have admired. The upside? You can still be excited about the person you represent.

I have had the honor and pleasure of being campaign manager for Karen Crowe, Maple Valley City Council, Position No. 5. Ms. Crowe is a very caring and special person. I would never have signed up for political torture if I did not believe in her love for Maple Valley as a whole – residents and businesses alike. You’ve seen her signs, “Bringing community together – along with a commitment to seek solutions for the community to benefit all who live and work here”. I have seen her interact with many of our citizens and business owners just as she would in everyday life. She has the three C’s – a sense of community, a willingness to communicate openly and just plain class.

Karen’s commitment to our community shows in the many groups and committees she has served on and works tirelessly for their behalf. She and her husband Michael have a son at Tahoma Junior High, two adult daughters and two grandsons. They chose to move to Maple Valley for the school district and community. In the past six years, being a part of the Maple Valley community, she has been on the Maple  Valley Pony Baseball Board of Directors generating new revenue and creating some of the most successful food drives for the Maple Valley Food Bank. She has actively volunteered time to support the Tahoma School District through sign waiving and community outreach.

She enthusiastically supports the Maple Valley Youth Council, which is an integral part of “The Den” at the Maple Valley Community Center. She passionately raises money and awareness for breast cancer, not to mention walking 60 miles each year at the Komen 3-Day, for the past five years. She has worked collaboratively with the Greater Maple Valley/Black Diamond Chamber of Commerce to make changes, increasing revenue and improving benefits to members as a board director and more recently as the president of the chamber. I had the privilege of working with Karen as a board director during her time as president and I believe we were able to accomplish more for the chamber under her leadership than any of the past seven years that I served on the board. Karen brings to mind a quote by Bette Davis, “If you want a thing done well, get a couple of old broads to do it!”

All kidding aside, Karen Crowe has a great message and the work ethic to back it up. She wants to preserve our schools by working in harmony between the city leadership and the school district. She loves our parks and recreation opportunities. She values local businesses and encourages new business. She understands what is needed to broaden the tax base of the city and relieve some of the responsibilities of the residents that shoulder the burden alone. Ms. Crowe is not afraid to dive in and get her hands dirty to find resolutions to the issues at hand.

In closing, I would like to thank Karen for asking me to join her campaign. It really has been an honor and a privilege – I was always someone who has abhorred politics in any way because so much harm can be done along the way. Ms. Crowe is, and will continue to be, a woman who carries those three C’s. She will be a valued leader and I give her my support. Vote Crowe by Nov. 8 and bring back Maple Valley’s sense of community, communication and class.

 

Sandi Sutton

Maple Valley