Letter to the Editor: Community Leader Announces Council Candidacy

Dear Renton,

After great consideration, prayer and reflection, I have filed to run for position #2 on the Renton City Council.

My wife Shannon and I, bought our home in Renton eighteen years ago to raise a family. Through our community service and volunteer roles, our family has gotten to know many of you. Still many more have met me over the past two years because of my leadership role in assuring the new downtown KCLS library would be constructed and remain over the Cedar River. As we enter the Renton summer celebrations, and as neighbors gather to engage in community, our family looks forward to getting to know more of you. 

I’ve been asked why I’m running for council. Too often the public becomes discouraged when it seems no one listens. They stop participating. Without the participation of a community, legislation often leans to the side of special interests, and dare I say “Good old Boy” politics. The downtown library saga illustrated all too well what happens when our representative government runs itself while leaving you the represented out. I believe it’s time to add a public servant to Renton’s city council, and not another insider politician. Advocacy is the responsibility of representative leadership.

Renton is ripe with opportunity. An engaged diverse community participating in growth, can make all the difference. As Renton maneuvers out of a lengthy economic downturn, we must recommit to sound fiscal principles. We must make good on the commitments to those communities which have become part of Renton through annexations. We must continue to fully support our educators, and service providers. And, we must continue to work at improving the business climate for our small business owners. Sure, we’ve done a great job in Renton with so many national and global companies making their home here. However, a sustainable healthy business climate relies on a thriving locally owned small business sector. We must encourage participation and partner with community members willing to vest themselves in the success of our city. And we must engage our youth and young adults, understanding they are the future of this city. It is time for a fresh breath on the council, a voice of common sense not motivated by political gain, but rather by a deep sense of service and stewardship.

I look forward to the challenges ahead; to work and engage with you side by side. I invite you to learn more about me at www.averyforrenton.org.

Respectfully,   

Stuart Avery