Politics & Government
VMC Board of Commissioners Open Seat Draws a Crowd of Candidates
Five candidates have already filed to fill the seat on Valley Medical Center's board of commissioners. The person elected will fill the seat previously occupied by Commissioner Don Jacobson who said he will not seek re-election.
If the race for the open seat on Valley Medical Center’s board of commissioners is any indication, it is going to be an interesting political season. Already, five people have filed for the seat being vacated by longtime commissioner, Don Jacobson who announced he would not be seeking re-election.
The field of five includes Renton Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Mary Alice Heuschel. Heuschel serves on Valley Medical's President Advisory Committee, Washington STEM board, Education Northwest Board, Seattle University Education Advisory Board, School Employees Credit Union advisory board.
Heuschel was , and a .
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As of press time today, the other candidates are Paul Joos, Michele Fisher, Jim Grossnickle and Chris Clifford.
Clifford’s name is fairly well-known in Renton, having run unsuccessfully for a number of positions — including Renton City Council and the King County Elections Director.
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Grossnickle is a research scientist at the University of Washington, who ran unsuccessfully for a Renton School Board seat, when current board member Pam Teal was elected in 2009. Grossnickle lives in Newport Hills.
Joos is an opthamalogist with Valley Laser and Eye Center.
Fisher's statement said that she was an elected member of the Fours Creek Unincorporated Council. She worked for Valley Medical Center as a Director of Business Development. In her message to Patch, Fisher hopes to help stage the financial health stability of the Medical Center and district as well as taking steps to insure, for the community, that they can receive top quality care at Valley Medical Center now and in the future.
Fisher is running to "insure quality care for my community and to maintain and assure the health of the hospital, the district and the district's residents."
Dr. Heuschel, who attended the 's on Tuesday night said that she was running for the seat because, “this is a great opportunity to further serve my community and to become an advocate for quality health care.”
The hospital commission board has been recently divided on a number of issues, including the recent . That vote was split by 3-2, with commissioners Jacobson, Carolyn Parnell, and Sue Bowman voting for it, and Aaron Heide and Anthony Hempstead voting against it.
The board has also had so many contentious meetings that a parlimentarian was hired to mediate and keep the peace at the meetings.
