
Protecting Our Environment
We must ensure that the pressures of growth are carefully balanced against with the preservation of the quality of life that we all enjoy.
I've been an environmentalist since the very first Earth Day, trying to make a difference in my personal choices and actions to leave as small an environmental footprint as possible, and to support and advocate for environmental preservation and protection.
While serving as a Tukwila City Council Member (1988-1992), I was a leading advocate for the creation and passage of the city’s first ever Sensitive Areas Ordinance that preserved and protected the environment from intrusive development, years before Washington state required such protections under the Growth Management Act.
On the national level, I served as the Clinton Administration's external affairs director for the President's Northwest Forest Plan, protecting irreplaceable, essential old growth forest habitat for the endangered northern spotted owl.
I began my career in public service as chairman of the Tukwila Parks and Recreation Commission (1984-1988). Here on Bainbridge Island we are endowed and blessed with an abundance of parks, forests, beaches, trails and open spaces that are the envy of other communities, define the character of our island, and help fight climate change.
We must all work together to ensure that these precious community assets are preserved and protected for generations to come.