I wrote this in spring 2007 when I announced plans to run for re-election. I don't write that many columns anymore because I try to emphasize immediacy by posting on a blog.
My loyal readers, both of you, will recall my first column in The Lakewood Journal was written with a dance metaphor. I remember sitting on my second or third day on the job in the old white building on Bridgeport - now a tanning salon, of all things. I remember trying to think of what to say to people who only knew me as a stranger, but who I wanted so badly to serve as their 'own' newspaper editor. And so I came up with the dance metaphor - a stranger approaching someone for a dance. I was asking, in my own way, "Please give me a try."
We have, you and I, been through a lot since those first steps in the waltz. Lakewood became a city. The paper won a bunch of awards, and, I think, reflected the beating heart of a proud community. Steve Dunkelberger became the editor. I've held different day jobs, in Olympia, Seattle, and now Puyallup. The Journal closed. My parents died. Cindy started working at Madigan. Our children became teen-agers. Steve and I wrote a history book about Lakewood. And that's just highlights of my life. Heaven only knows what has gone on in all your lives. In fact, come to think of it, Heaven has already claimed some of the first people I met those first weeks.
In 2003, you elected me to the Lakewood City Council. I remain so grateful and humbled by what's clearly been the highest honor ever paid me in my life. When I wrote about that experience, I also chose a dance metaphor. Here I was again, new now to you in politics, asking for your trust to be one of seven.
I humbly stand before you again, in 2007, and ask for another four years to make a difference. This isn't a first dance anymore. You know me. We've been at this awhile, you and I. I remain independent and feisty. At times, I'm consoling and comforting; at times, I'm simply cantankerous. I call what I say common sense, and you may call it the rantings of a guy who wrote one too many editorials in his lifetime. I still call my prime motivation a single-minded dedication to a better Lakewood. And by better ... I mean a place where good ideas can thrive.
I'll say the same thing that I said in 1993 about cityhood: cityhood might turn out to be the worst idea in the world for a given person. Someone might come up with an idea, and see it fail to go anywhere. They might even see the idea lose. But with cityhood came a place to go to talk, to share ideas and to reach decisions locally, not downtown Tacoma. In the end, this is what I can pledge: I will listen, I will consider - sometimes even agonize and sometimes even pray - and at the end of the day, I hope you know that I heard you and that I care.
You'll find my re-election statement at this link in Word format. It consists of highlights - there wasn't room to talk about other important things like roads, human services funding, etc... I would be honored for your support. As always, let me know what you think.
Paid for by Walter Neary for City Council, P.O. Box 99702, Lakewood, WA 98496-0702; 253-229-3620
(This site and all content generated by the owner are solely opinions of one Lakewood resident, and in no way, shape or form reflect any position of the City of Lakewood, the City Council, or any group)