Victoria Laise Jonas announced on Monday she will seek a fourth term on the Maple Valley City Council this fall.

Jonas said she plans to focus on four key issues during the campaign: public safety, fiscal accountability and stability, economic development and the development of Summit Place.

“Continued pro-active public safety is first and foremost a priority for our city and the residents we serve,” Jonas wrote in a statement. “We are very fortunate to live in a city with one of the lowest crime rates making Maple Valley one of the safest communities in the region.”

She pointed to her experience as a civil servant, having spent 30 years working for the Seattle Police Department in human resources, as well as her experience on the City Council as a reason she should be re-elected to help guide Maple Valley during the current economic climate.

“Our City government must be efficient, accountable, adaptable, and yet be responsive to the needs of its residents,” Jonas said. “This year, the Maple Valley City Council will re-evaluate our transportation and capital improvement programs and continue to seek innovative ways to do more with less during these difficult economic times.”

Jonas said despite a booming population that has doubled since the city incorporated in 1997, “our economic development opportunities have fallen behind.”

“Over the next five to 10 years and beyond, the commercial/retail/office side of our city will significantly change,” she said. “We must have sensible economic development policies in place to provide economic development opportunities that meet the needs of our citizens, create diverse living-wage employment opportunities and assist with the fiscal stability to expand our city’s tax base.”

As for Summit Place, aka the donut hole, Jonas encouraged residents to be engaged in the planning process for the site as it “will have monumental impacts on the residents of Maple Valley.”

Jonas is proud of what the council has accomplished in her time on it and said those achievements have been a team effort and she is “honored by the prospects of serving the residents of Maple Valley for another four years.”

Stanette Marie Rose has announced that she will challenge Jonas for her position on the council.