Editor:
I am delighted Janelle Cass has announced her candidacy to run for State Senate in the 21st Legislative District. She has the credentials and temperament to best serve in this capacity. She will bring rational thinking, consensus building, and problem solving to Olympia, which seems to be out of touch with citizens.
Janelle is an Air Force Academy graduate. Her background and area of expertise is in civil and environmental engineering. She is analytical and will not jump to conclusions in decision making. She is an independent thinker, and you will not ever find her going along to get along. She is principled and a person of integrity.
Janelle is Janelle no matter what the issue, which day of the week it is, or who is asking the question. Your name and title don’t figure into how she will decide an issue or how she will vote. She will protect the interests of all constituents. She will look at the data, ask the questions that need to be asked, weigh the pros and cons, bring in the stakeholders, and then make a decision.
Janelle is a business owner, Ohana Hyperbarics. She knows what it means to look at business finances and decide on how dollars need to be spent. She won’t be writing legislation or supporting projects that needlessly spend your tax dollars.
Janelle can boast of many accomplishments but one I find most impressive is when she worked on a project with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). As an environmental engineer for the FAA Las Vegas Metroplex Airspace Redesign Project, she experienced the challenges of bringing together the FAA and the National Parks Dept to agree on how airplanes should fly over sensitive areas of the Grand Canyon and Zion National Park. Initially, the organizations wanted entirely different outcomes. With diplomacy and perseverance Janelle was able to encourage FAA management, FAA unions, and the airlines to develop a collaborative relationship with a wide variety of invested organizations. These included the National Parks Dept, Tribal Nations -primarily the Hualapal Tribe, State Historic Preservation Offices, the State Dept of Ecology, the Dept of Defense at Nellie AFB, elected officials, the public, and others. This massive collaborative effort resulted in reducing an average of 100 flights per day over the Grand Canyon and eliminated fights over Zion National Park altogether.
This example demonstrates Janelle’s ability to bring a variety of organizations, and people with differing opinions and desired outcomes together, to problem solve so in the end a decision is reached that benefits and serves all constituents.
You will have the opportunity to get to know Janelle, ask questions of her as this race progresses. You too will be impressed.
Theresa Campa Hutchinson
Edmonds
Theresa, thank you for this informative letter about Janelle! I was beyond thrilled when I saw she is running for US Senate and this news could not come at a better time! When I saw that Marko Liias sponsored bills that work against our community and violate our Growth Management Act, I knew immediately this is not the person to represent our communities any longer. Janelle hands down, has the skills to navigate us to better decision making for our communities and the environment. We are fortunate to be able to have this opportunity to vote for someone with integrity and a proven track record of knowing how to get things done while considering the greater good for all. Janelle has my vote and I want to thank her for running. She IS the better choice to advocate for our community.
Theresa, what an excellent letter you wrote in support of Janelle Cass. It will serve to begin informing the constituents of the 21st State Legislative District regarding the skills and qualities Janelle will bring to the Washington State Senate. There are many of us who are concerned that our legislators no longer have our best interest at heart. Marko Liias, Strom Peterson and Lillian Ortiz-Self seem to be more intent on implementing their political agenda rather than carrying out the will of the people. The current legislative session should have prioritized passing a strong bill like other states did to curb the Governor’s emergency powers. The recently released test numbers from our public schools are disastrous. Roadway infrastructure needs immediate attention. Crime is out of control. The legislature is asking for more taxes when there is plenty of excess money. Tax relief should be on the docket. We need new legislators with fresh perspectives and a commitment to “we the people”. Janelle Cass in the Senate is a step in the right direction. I ask the 21st district constituents to do their homework and get to know Janelle. The 2022 elections will be critical for our future.
Cynthia sorry but you misread the growth management act. It actually is the impetus for density in all cities. Sf lots are defined as urban sprawl. Mf developments are “good” because they promote bus/rail transportation. I do agree with many that Cass will be a huge improvement over Lias.
Hat’s off that Lias is working to minimize the gun magazines that are used by people not in the military. What a brave thing to tackle. There’s a lot of “fixing” to do and it would be great to think of others and not just ourselves, and listen to the quiet voices speaking and working to promote justice.
“What a brave thing to tackle”?
Almost all modern handguns are manufactured with a magazine capacity of 10 rounds or more. Sen. Liias’ attempt to circumvent the 2nd amendment is not “working to promote justice.”
Sen. Liias’ bill doesn’t circumvent anything. There’s nothing in the 2nd Amendment about the magazine capacity. When the 2nd Amendment was written, firearms were muzzle-loaders. The framers had no idea how much more destructive firearms would become centuries later.
When you attempt to outlaw a basic feature of the majority of firearms, you are, underhandedly, attempting to outlaw the majority of handguns, and the bill of rights. I’m sure the founders were well aware of what they were doing!
There’s nothing in the 1st amendment about writing nonsense in MEN.
Before touting Ms. Cass’s qualifications for public office, you should learn what post she is seeking. It is not for US Senator. Sen. Liias is a state senator.
My bad typo…I meant to say:
When you attempt to outlaw a basic features of the majority of firearms, you are, underhandedly, attempting to outlaw the majority of handguns, and circumvent the bill of rights. I’m sure the founders were well aware of what they were doing!
Not having as many handguns around would be great! As this goes on and on I note Cliff’s opinion, but mine is different. We’ve tried the gun availability and the results aren’t good, so lets try something else. We need to look for what works and make change accordingly. If the bill passes I’ll be doing a happy dance.