Last week there was a bit of a hoopla around Karen's choice of church, and some of their values (view the blog post that started it all here).

My goal in this was to clear the air, and remove all doubt from people's minds about the quality of Karen's character. Well, a few days later and things snowballed a bit and the communication broke down. Karen wasn't responding to any further inquiries by me and I frankly don't blame her.

In the past week, I've spoken to a few people who've assured me that Karen Veldheer is an accepting, caring person, and I believe them. So for my part in all of that hoopla I apologize.

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This election is a pretty important one for Olympia. The people we elect this year will be called on to address the city's budget crisis, they will be responsible for getting the ball rolling on sustainable housing projects to create places to live for the 120,000 new residents expected in the metro area by 2025, and they'll be responsible for updating the Comprehensive Plan.

I'm not trying to downplay the importance of knowing candidates' values, but there are some other really important questions we should be asking also. It's our responsibility to ask detailed and specific questions that demand more than just 10 word sound bite answers and really get down to it. We need to elect people that can show an understanding of not only the conditions at present, but what can be done, should be done, and most importantly HOW to do the things we need to do for Olympia.