Mr. Box wrote a very bold and forthright editorial in the Oct. 21 issue of the Maple Valley-Covington-Black Diamond Reporter describing the “White Elephant Lurking in Black Diamond”.
Boy, all the letters to the editor supporting Noel Gerken are interesting.
Never before has the deputy mayor (Letter to the Editor published in the Oct. 21 edition) taken such a direct action in supporting any candidate. Of course, she has groomed and supported candidates in opposition to sitting council members when they ran for re-election.
When I was looking for school board support for a new Kent School District Middle School Science & Engineering Fair, Debbie Straus found time to meet with me, saw the opportunity and made things happen.
I am writing to add my support to Leslie Hamada in her quest to serve on the Kent School Board, Position No. 3.
I have known Leslie for several years especially in regard to her efforts to improve the health and well being of our public school students.
We are very fortunate here in the City of Maple Valley to have two fine candidates running for City Council Position Number 1, Bill Woodcock and Sean P. Kelly. I have had the privilege of knowing both of them for several years and can vouch for their integrity and commitment to our community. However, there is one that stands out and is much more qualified for the position.
The economic and political unrest that was the setting of Charles Dickens’s novel, “A Tale of Two Cities”, could surely be set again in the city of Black Diamond over the last couple of years. The point is that the city of Black Diamond is in turmoil due to the lack of political leadership and limited economic viability. This has been nursed along by the teat of private funding agreements and an addiction to spending that is fueled only by levies and taxes.
I would like to take this opportunity to encourage our Maple Valley voters to cast their vote to re-elect Noel Gerken to the Maple Valley City Council.
I am writing to you in support of Leslie Kae Hamada, candidate for Kent School Board Position No. 3. I have had the honor of working with Leslie for the past two years through my service with the 501(c)(3) nonprofit Project U(th).
I have chosen to endorse Bill Woodcock for Maple Valley City Council. He is an experienced results driven leader who is ethical in his approach. Bill Woodcock will fight to keep Maple Valley a sustainable thriving community. Our current council has made moves that were negative to many small businesses.
The city of Black Diamond is facing a momentous challenge with the imminent arrival of a master planned development by Yarrow Bay. There are three City Council positions up for election. These positions are more important now than in any other time in the history of Black Diamond. I support Joe May for Position No. 3; Tamie Boxx-Deady for Position No. 1 and Ron Taylor for Position No. 5.
I have known Maple Valley City Council member and Mayor Noel Gerken for over 10 years. We met when we served together on the very young city of Maple Valley’s first Economic Development Council. Noel’s service to the city was outstanding then as it was when we later served together on the City Council and his current service as our mayor.
The Maple Valley Professional Firefighters formally announces their endorsement of Noel Gerken for re-election to Maple Valley City Council, Position No. 5.
When I was looking for school board support for a new Kent School District Middle School Science & Engineering Fair, Debbie Straus found time to meet with me, saw the opportunity and made things happen.
The King County Police Officers Guild is impressed with Noel Gerken’s commitment to public safety and policing for the city of Maple Valley. Maple Valley and the King County Sheriff’s Office have a strong partnership to ensure the continued high quality of service that the citizens of Maple Valley deserve.
Gerken an effective leader
I recently met Noel Gerken, mayor of Maple Valley. I was impressed by his great enthusiasm for public safety and recapping all of the great work and progress the city has made in recent years.
I would like to extend my support for Pam McCain for Black Diamond City Council. I have known Pam for 17 years and she has been consistent throughout the years never wavering on her ethics and standards. Pam is someone that you want on your side when you need cool minds to prevail.
We are writing this letter in support of Sean P. Kelly who is running for Position No. 1 on the Maple Valley City Council.
Bill and I are excited to be endorsing Karen Crowe for City Council Position No. 5. Here’s why.
From my personal experience working with Karen on the chamber board, I can tell you she will bring energy and commitment to her council position. Karen leads by example.
I have known Noel Gerken for 12 years and I fully endorse his bid for re-election to the Maple Valley City Council.
In the ongoing closed record hearings concerning the development agreements for proposed Black Diamond master planned developments council men (Craig) Goodwin and (William) Saas were challenged by the developer, YarrowBay, to recuse themselves. The reasons given by YarrowBay were that both councilmen spoke with our citizens’ technical team last spring and, thus, according to YarrowBay, violated the quasi-judicial development agreement hearing rules.