As you’ve probably heard by now, I’ve filed the necessary Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) forms to run for political office. It is my intent to be elected to the 26th District Senate seat currently occupied by Bob Oke.

To the surprise of numerous people — including some in the local party — I’ve filed as a Democrat. As I’ve written in this space many times over the years, I’ve been a Democrat since my 18th birthday. However, rather than blindly march to the Pied Piper party line, I’ve always voted independently for the most qualified person regardless of party, and on the merits of any given issue. I’m unabashedly pro-business, and some local liberal Democrats have asked why, since I’ve openly supported some Republicans — including Dino Rossi, Rob McKenna and Jan Angel, I don’t run as one myself.

To be honest, in spite of some disenchantment with the Democrats, the GOP has never offered me a compelling reason to switch. With encouragement from some friends and business associates, I briefly flirted with that possibility, but quickly realized doing so would betray many of my personal core values and beliefs.

Our state has a number of serious challenges in front of it — most notably, transportation and transportation infrastructure funding, over-taxation, massive over-regulation, education funding, environmentally as well as economically sustainable long term growth planning, affordable housing, skyrocketing health care costs, and family-wage job creation, among many others. These are problems neither party has a monopoly on solutions to, and the current polarized, take-no-prisoners political atmosphere in Olympia isn’t going to solve them. It’s going to make them worse.

Considering the makeup of this state’s electorate, I believe moderate, fiscally responsible, pro-business, centrist Democratic legislators offer the best chance of getting a grasp on solutions to these issues as well as reining in Olympia’s bureaucratic tax and spend mentality. l’ll bring real private sector experience and actual common sense thinking to Olympia.

My campaign committee is made up of people from across the complete political spectrum — it includes a well-known local conservative from the tech sector, a Democratic elected official, representatives from two professional business organizations, a teacher and Democratic political activist, a former international diplomat, a local non-profit agency official, a prominent environmental activist, one of my closest personal friends, a union official, as well as a member of the banking community.

What all these people have in common is that they feel the same way I do — that party labels don’t matter as much as the willingness to roll up your sleeves, build consensus, and get the job done.

It’s time for common sense thinking in Olympia that defies the business-as-usual, party-driven agenda that’s both polarized and paralyzed our state.

Washington needs to elect legislators who understand how business works and how jobs are created — people willing to work together from both parties that have had the experience — and responsibility — that comes with signing the front side of a paycheck. If you feel the same way, I welcome your support — and frankly, I don’t care which party you belong to, because we’re all in this together.

   My running for office will necessitate some changes here at the Business Journal, but not many. I do want to let our readers know exactly what to expect though.

I will continue to write this column. Some local conservatives have already begun whining about that. I suspect these same people had no problem with KVI personalities Kirby Wilber and John Carlson promoting I-912 because that fit their views, and wouldn’t be nearly as concerned had I filed as a Republican. All I can say is don’t expect my opinionated commentary to change in favor of the Democratic Party simply because I’ve filed as a Democrat. On the other hand, don’t look for me to deliberately trash the Republicans for the same reason. It will be business as usual, with me continuing to air my personal views on a wide myriad of subjects and people, and letting the chips fall where they may.

Although there will inevitably be some conflict and crossover issues, I won’t blatantly use this forum as a campaign soapbox. When I was appointed to the Kitsap County Planning Commission almost six years ago, I made the commitment not to use this column to comment as I had in the past on specific land use issues that the Planning Commission dealt directly with, such as the Comprehensive Plan, Critical Areas Ordinance, etc. I’ve kept that promise. This will be no different.

One thing that will change is how we do political endorsements. In the past, our endorsements were the product of a small, ad-hoc group. That will change. As editor and publisher, I’ve made the decision to enlist a formal editorial board for this paper — something we’ve never had before. It will consist of six people and myself. I’m looking for reasonable, thoughtful, informed businesspeople from across the political spectrum — not opinioned ideologues. I’d like a diverse group of people from Gig Harbor to Bainbridge Island, and all points in between. I don’t expect your thoughts to mirror mine, because if they did, having such a group would be pointless. If you’re interested in joining this board, contact me directly at biznews@wetapple.com. I’d like to announce those appointments in the next issue.

Because of the timing, we will not be making endorsements in the upcoming primary election. However, if the new editorial board is in place in time, we will do endorsements for the general election in November.

   I hope this answers your questions. I expect this to be quite a ride — and a great experience. I ask you to join me.