BLOGSUNNYSIDE VOTERS’ GUIDE: 15th LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT CANDIDATES

October 12, 2010 by 1 Comment

15th District State Senator

Jim Honeyford is a former member of the Sunnyside City Council.  He has been in the Washington State Senate since 1999.  Honeyford is also running unopposed this year.  He has held the line and voted against increased spending, regulations, and taxes during the recession.  As a former teacher, librarian, and farmer, he has the breadth of experience needed to make sure Washington offers a favorable climate for businesses to thrive, while also providing for the basic education our children need to succeed later in life.

State Representative Position 1

  • √ Bruce Chandler (Prefers Republican Party)
  • Paul Spencer (Prefers Democratic Party)

Bruce Chandler has been a state representative since 1999.  He has owned and operated a family farm for 25 years.  As a member of the State House of Representatives, Chandler has represented our district well.  He supported important gang legislation that was blocked from passage in the State Senate by liberal Democrats.  He voted to protect citizens from tax increases, and voted against repealing the 2/3 requirement needed to raise taxes in our state.  Chandler understands that the state government needs to learn to live within its means, just like regular families have had to do during the recession.  He deserves another term.

Paul Spencer is a first-time political candidate.  His major issues of concern are forest management, renewable energy, and placing a state income tax on our earnings.  This is the first candidate I can think of that has actually run on a platform of increasing income taxes since Walter Mondale in 1984.  The problem with our state budget is not revenue, but spending that is exceeding tax collections.  Mr. Spencer should consider ways to make state government leaner and more efficient if he wants to attract a higher percentage of voters than his apparent idol: Mondale.

State Representative Position 2

  • √ David Taylor (Prefers Republican Party)
  • Thomas (Tom) T. Silva (Prefers Democratic Party)

David Taylor was first appointed as State Representative in 2009 by the bi-partisan group of county commissioners comprising the 15th Legislative District.  As a small business owner and rancher, he understands the needs of entrepreneurs and farmers in our district.  In addition, his experience in land use consulting and planning makes him very knowledgeable when navigating the bureaucratic maze in Olympia.  Taylor favors more local control (as opposed to state and federal control) over land use.  He supports creating spending priorities in the state budget (something the Democratic majority has refused to do).  Taylor also supported the gang legislation that the liberal Democrats in the State Senate squashed.  He believes in the rights of individuals, and will continue to vote to protect us from tax increases and more regulations.

Tom Silva unsuccessfully ran for Yakima County Commissioner about 10 years ago.  He retired from a 31 year career as a government bureaucrat.  He is pledging to ask for resources to retrain educators.  Silva also talks of restoring confidence in government integrity.  He is not very specific about what he would do, but instead talks in vague terms about job creation, and economic stability.

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Valley Political News

August 18, 2010 by Leave a comment

Yesterday night was an exciting night for voters and politicos throughout the Yakima Valley. Three races promised two winners and a defeatist.

The District Court race surprised many as Doug Federspiel and Mike Everett advanced to the general election, leaving Bronson Faul behind with under 15% of the vote. Bronson Faul had picked up the envious endorsements of Senator Jim Honeyford, Representatives David Taylor, Bruce Chandler, and Yakima Mayor Micah Cawley. Bronson Faul is young man and we’ll surely see him on our ballot in the near future.

County Commissioner Rand Elliott was up for re-election and was challenged by a fellow Republican and someone running under the Tea Party label. Kenneth Stevens, the Tea Party candidate famous for his “make sure you don’t get screwed” campaign slogan, has publically declared that he will refuse to take his $81,000 salary if elected. The incumbent Rand Elliott and the energetic Tea Party candidate will face each other in November. We could be up for a surprise!

 The 14th legislative race has been the most exciting race in the county. The incumbent Norm Johnson(R) was challenged by Michele Strobel(R) and Scott Brumback(D). Johnson and Strobel secured a spot in the November ballot. This promises to be a vicious battle between a moderate and a conservative Republican. It will be interesting to see if the Democrat endorses any of the remaining candidates. The local Democratic Party refused to endorse Scott Brumback as he was too conservative. He was once a Republican PCO. I don’t blame them!

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State Rep Working To Elect More Republicans To House

August 14, 2010 by Leave a comment

Washington 15th District State Representative David Taylor has been tapped by fellow Republicans in the State House, to assist up to 22 campaigns during the 2010 election cycle.  He is now a member of the leadership of the House Republican Organizational Committee, and recently sent a fundraising appeals letter to his supporters to ask for their help in raising up to $20,000 to partially fund these other candidates’ campaigns.

Photo From David Taylor's Official Legislative Website

15th District State Representative David Taylor

Mr. Taylor, in a phone interview with this blog, explained that each political party caucus has its own campaign arm, and the House Republican Organizational Committee (HROC) works to recruit candidates, and raise funds, with the goal of getting more Republicans elected in the legislature.  Earlier this year, Taylor transferred $10,000 to HROC, and has the goal of transferring an additional $20,000 following the primary election.

Cary Condotta, a 12th District Representative, invited Mr. Taylor to be on the Leadership Team for HROC this year.  The Leadership Team is made up of caucus elected leadership, and three additional representatives that have been invited to participate.  Taylor said it is an honor to be part of the effort and work of HROC.

Taylor said the top races that he is personally following are:

Read more of this post

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John Gotts (D) Concedes WA 15th Legislative Election To David Taylor (R)

September 11, 2009 by Leave a comment

John Gotts, the Democrat challenger to Washington’s 15th Legislative District Republican Representative, has conceded the election.

Earlier this week, I spoke with Mr. Gotts by telephone, who informed me that after conversations with a political consultant, he had made the decision to concede the election to David Taylor.  He determined that after a pro-longed absence from the area during the primary election season, that it would be too much of an uphill battle to overcome the momentum that David Taylor has right now.

Mr. Taylor was appointed earlier this year to fill a vacancy caused by former Representative Newhouse’s departure.  Due to the mid-term appointment, the 15th Legislative District seat is on the ballot for this fall’s election.  The winner will serve the remainder of the regular term, and the position will be on the ballot again next year.

On his blog, Mr. Gotts states in part:

I talked with advisors and thought about what the chances were for a win and I’ve decided that at this late stage of the race it would be nearly impossible to achieve victory in November against State Representative David Taylor and so for the second time in this race I am removing myself from the election.

Representative Taylor is a good man who has the needs of the people at heart and I respect him very much. The 15th Legislative District is in my opinion well-represented. I believe that he will do his best to bring jobs and economic recovery to our District.

To read all of Mr. Gotts’ comments, you can visit his blog, here.

Mr. Gotts has many interesting ideas for bringing jobs to the district.  He said that he had spoken with Representative Taylor about some of his proposals, and that Mr. Taylor may support some of them.

After speaking with Mr. Gotts, I came away with the impression that we have not heard the last from him.  In fact, he states on his blog that he may run for Congress in 2012.

I look forward to having a continued dialog with Mr. Gotts in the coming months and years.  He has some innovative ideas to help guide the United States towards greater energy independence that deserve a place in the public debate.  While I am not committing to support any of his proposals, I believe we share a mutual goal of weaning America of its dependence on foreign oil.

I wish Mr. Gotts the best of luck in his business endeavors, and I thank him for his involvement in the politics of our District.

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State Rep. David Taylor Holds Town Hall Meeting In Sunnyside

June 26, 2009 by Leave a comment

Last night (Thursday) State Representative David Taylor held a town hall meeting in Sunnyside.  Taylor has been holding a series of meetings throughout the 15th District to hear what is on the minds of voters.  He is seeking input from citizens on what short term and long term issues they would like the legislature to be focusing on.

Some issues that Taylor said that keep coming up are: education, water, and economic development.

On the education issue, Taylor noted that the dropout rate in Sunnyside schools seemed high, and postulated that promoting a three track curriculum may be one way to address the issue.  He noted that over the last 20 years, schools have moved away from vocational and technical training options, and increasingly put students on a one-track program.  Taylor said that he comes from a family of educators, and has also met with the Sunnyside Schools Superintendent to discuss the high dropout rate.

Taylor said one way to deal with the high dropout rate would be to offer a three track program for students.  All three tracks would promote the traditional basics like reading, writing, and arithmetic; but would have divergent attributes from there.

  • Track A would be primarily a vocational or technical track.  Students in this track would graduate high school and be able to get good jobs as skilled laborers.  Welding, auto repair, nursing, and robotics could be taught under this track.
  • Track B would be for those students that are not sure if they want to go to college or not.  It would be set up for those more likely to earn a two-year degree after high school.  It would not include the most advanced college placement classes, but would offer some challenging college prep work to engage students.
  • Track C would be designed for those that are almost 100% sure they will be pursuing a four-year degree after high school.  It would include the most advanced course offerings.

Taylor said the state could run a “pilot” program, perhaps in Sunnyside, to try and address the issue of a high dropout rate.  By offering more options than a one track system, students would hopefully remain engaged, and be more productive members of society by working as skilled laborers after leaving school.

Rep. Taylor reiterated support for the state constitutional requirements to address public health, safety, and education.  He disagreed with priorities being shifted away from these areas, with more money being spent on environmental programs.  He noted that the state spent several million dollars to buy an island for those who like to kayak to paddle around, while cuts were made in education, parks, and many other areas.

The state budget continues to suffer from deficit projections, despite revenues being fairly stable.  Taylor said that the budget problems are more of a spending problem than a revenue problem.  He is opposed to raising taxes to pay for more state programs.

I would personally like to thank State Representative David Taylor for making himself available to the citizens in this public meeting.  He said that he intends to hold more such meetings in the future, at least a couple of times a year, in various parts of the 15th District.

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Yakima County Republicans Endorse David Taylor For 15th District Representative

June 18, 2009 by 8 Comments

David Taylor, State Representative, 15th District

David Taylor, State Representative, 15th District

The Yakima County Republican Central Committee endorsed David Taylor of Moxee for the Washington 15th Legislative District Representative position tonight at its meeting of Precinct Committee Officers.

Mr. Taylor said one purpose in speaking tonight was to remind everyone that the state representative seat is on the ballot for election this year.  He was appointed by the county commissioners of the four counties in the district earlier this year.  This is the first time he will be on the ballot.

Representative Taylor mentioned that there are only 61 days until the primary election.  Although three candidates will appear on the ballot, one Democrat challenger, John Gotts, has already seen the writing on the wall and withdrawn from the contest.  Gotts informed the media he was calling it quits after the allotted time for a candidate to officially withdraw, therefore his name will still be on the ballot.

Mr. Taylor said he has amassed about $8,000 so far, which puts him slightly ahead of his fund-raising goal this far into the campaign.  According to Mr. Taylor, his other Democrat challenger, Donicio Marichalar of Grandview, has not filed any information with the Public Disclosure Commission of Washington in regards to his campaign funds.  Taylor said this information was due about a week ago.

Mr. Taylor will be holding a town hall meeting in Sunnyside at 7 PM, Thursday, June 25, 2009 at Banner Bank.  The meeting is to allow him to hear from citizens about issues in the district.  Last year, 15th District Senator Jim Honeyford, was able to get three bills passed after hearing input from the citizens about what is important to them.

Representative Taylor said it is also important for him to hear what is on the minds of people in the community so he can work to address those issues in Olympia.  The town hall meeting is open to the public, and all are invited to attend.

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The Top Ranked Candidates For Appointment To Washington 15th District House Seat

March 21, 2009 by Leave a comment

This is a summary of information on each of the three top ranked candidates (as selected by Republican Precinct Committee Officers) to fill the vacancy in the 15th District House Seat.  Dan Newhouse, who was elected to the post, has been appointed to Governor Gregoire’s cabinet, as head of the Department of Agriculture.

County commisioners from the four counties in the district (Yakima, Clark, Skamania, and Klickitat) will make the final decision on who is to be appointed to the position.  The position will then be up for election in November.

Eight candidates were nominated at the PCO meeting.  They were Jacob Anderson, Don Vlieger, Michael Garvison, Gary Clark, David Stanton, Debra Manjarrez, David Taylor, and Mike Wallace.  PCOs engaged in multiple rounds of balloting to winnow the candidates down to the final three.  By my count, it took 13 rounds of voting before this was done.

Jacob Anderson, the first candidate to reach a majority of the vote, did so after five rounds of voting.  Mr. Anderson is from White Salmon.  He spends time working on his family’s farm, as well as working in his family’s business, Anderson’s Custom Sawing.  He is a graduate of the University of Idaho, and has experience within several business and political associations.  He also serves as Secretary on the Executive Board of the Klickitat County Republicans.

David Taylor, the second candidate to reach a majority in the voting, did so after another five rounds of voting.  Mr. Taylor is from Moxee.  He is the owner of Taylor Consulting Group.  The firm does business in government relations, water and land use, research and legal analysis.  He also owns some cattle.  Taylor graduated from Central Washington University in Ellensburg, and worked previously in the Ellensburg planning department.

Don Vlieger, the third candidate to reach a majority, did so after only three more rounds of voting.  Mr. Vlieger is from Sunnyside.  He owns the Sunnyside Inn Bed & Breakfast.  He previously served 7 years on the Sunnyside City Council, and ran a primary campaign for the 15th District House Seat  in 2002.  Vlieger also worked as a safety administrator in the Sunnyside School District, and is a nine year veteran of the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department.  He is a graduate of Long Beach City College.

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