From Beacon Hill resident Craig Thompson:
A couple of weeks before the election, I got my first notice of candidacy. Through no fault of my own, I was running for office, 37th District Representative to the State House in Olympia.
All the votes are counted.
The incumbent, Sharon Tomiko Santos, will keep her seat. Hers was the only name for that seat on the ballot.
We never had a debate, though we did meet face to face.
At a community council meeting, our representative told 35 neighbors and state and city reps we weren’t diverse.
Only we were.
Half of the people present were Asian or African American, or multicultural. Our meeting included gays and straights, Jewish Americans and Americans of other or no faiths.
Next morning, a Wednesday, I got the message. A pal told me she’d voted for me as a write-in candidate. Then I got another message. And another. And another.
Before long, I was running for office.
I relished victory.
Odds were steep, but pebbles can make a landslide.
There was a lot of friction at that meeting. Sharon asked us by way of introduction, “Why am I here?”
Our only answer: “We’re your constituents.”
She didn’t care.
She challenged us about two other elected officials, Adam Kline and Eric Pettigrew, and whether they’d met with neighbors before.
They have, with Beacon Hill, Little Saigon, Jackson Place, Rainier Valley and other community leaders over the Dearborn Goodwill development. Together, we landed Seattle’s first binding community benefits agreement. It sets a precedent for the South End, a model for all Seattle.
Larry Gossett and Dow Constantine have engaged Beacon Hill. So have Sally Clark, Tim Burgess, Nick Licata, Jan Drago, plus Norm Rice, David Della and Peter Steinbreuk in their days. And Jim McDermott and Greg Nickels.
Cheryl Chow – how lucky we are to have her in public life – calls Beacon Hill home. So did Sharon Tomiko as a girl.
Zack Hudgins, 11th District Rep, used to live around the corner, he still cares about us. He’s the model of a representative. He helped bring Fisher House to Beacon Hill, so vets’ families have a place to stay while they get treatment at the local VA hospital – and went to Iraq to lead Iraqis in workshops on democracy.
Patty Murray and Dave Reichert came to Beacon Hill for the Fisher House dedication. Without Patty Murray, the South End leg of light rail would not have happened. Zack stays on top of how state policy affects Beacon Hill.
Most of my electeds walk the talk.
Would I become one?
My past is…interesting. Interesting people lead interesting lives.
A run for office would embarrass no one but me.
Still if Ronald Reagan could become governor, then president, Sonny Bono end up in the House of Representatives from Palm Springs, and Al Franken run seriously for the US Senate from Minnesota and Saturday Night Live, perhaps my more youthful indiscretions could boost a run to an august body.
I hope State Representative Tomiko Santos listens up, there’s more to Beacon Hill than the 37th District Democrats know about.
But, then, there’s the city.
And the state.
Our nation.
We are a broader community together than we are this or that, to be reckoned with, it’s our job to make the Constitution true.
I want to thank all those who scribbled my name on ballots, that’s spelled “Craig.”
Maybe next time, I’ll have a yard sign.
Craig Thompson writes Beacon Lights: A Beacon Hill Blog. He is a professional writer who has also been a teacher, carpenter, landscaper, gardener, and cook, a civilian military trainer and technical editor, a poet and playwright, a jack of trades to practice the craft of words. Email him here.
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