There's no place on Earth quite like Redmond, Washington.
Our fair city is known by many nicknames (both formal and informal): Bicycle Capital of the Northwest, Microsoft Town, a community of good neighbors.
But for me (and I suspect a great many of my fellow residents) Redmond is synonymous with merely one concise, cherished word. Home.
My attachment to Redmond is all the more powerful because it is the only home I have ever known. I've happily spent all twenty one years of my life here, and can't imagine spending the rest of them anywhere else. While I do love traveling, and sightseeing, there's perhaps nothing more exciting to me than coming home.
I call it returning to Redmond.
My thoughts always turn to coming home when that plane is taxiing to the runway to depart for SeaTac. Or when I'm passing under the 148th Avenue overchange on State Route 520, heading towards downtown. My favorite sight from the highway is when Redmond Town Center comes into view from the sloping hill. You can see the retail district, the forested hills above, and on a clear day, the breathtaking Cascades far and away, towering over the fields of Marymoor Park.
The future and well-being of the City of Redmond are vitally important to me. In fact, concern for Redmond is what led me to become involved in politics and civic affairs just over six years ago.
I was a freshman in high school at the time, and greatly concerned about the impact of Tim Eyman's harmful initiatives. Initiative 747 had recently passed then, putting the squeeze on Redmond and King County, and Eyman was going after Sound Transit, the very agency that will eventually provide me and all other Redmond residents with a way to reliably and quickly get out of town without an automobile.
I had no political experience and no connections back in February of 2002. Just an incredibly strong instinct that what Eyman was doing was harmful to Redmond, harmful to my family, and harmful to my future. So I launched a website to oppose him.
In 2003, recognizing that effectively blunting the impact of Eyman's initiatives was difficult without having better ideas, I founded the Northwest Progressive Institute, a strategy center which I continue to lead as executive director. Today NPI has over a dozen staff (nobody is yet on the payroll, but that will change soon) and more of us live in Redmond than any other municipality in the Pacific Northwest, giving NPI a strong connection to the community.
I am not only a proud liberal, but also a partisan Democrat as well (I serve on the Executive Board of the 45th District Democrats). I may not be an independent, but I am open minded. I enjoy listening to the perspectives of conservative and Republican friends even if I disagree with what they're saying. I pay close attention to reader feedback, whether it's praise or criticism, and I use it constantly to improve my writing.
While I do follow national and state politics very closely, my posts here will usually focus squarely on life in Redmond or city government - this is, after all, a neighborhood blog! Our relationship with the rest of the Puget Sound region is important, however, and I will touch on that, especially in the context of topics like transportation. If you're someone who would like to read my analysis of the presidential race - or another non-Redmond political topic - I invite you to check out NPI's blog, which we update about every day, published (as the description says) from majestic Redmond, Washington.
Or, more simply...home sweet home.
- Andrew Villeneuve
Nice post, Andrew. Ann G. was right when she told me how great a writer and political wiz you are -- and at the ripe age of 21. By any chance, did you contribute to writing Jim Robinson's speeches when he ran for Mayor? Some of your words and phrases ring similar to Jim's campaign slogan -"coming home". Very similar. I do know Jim posted your Progressive Institute info.on his site. By any chance, were you friends with his son? Finally, on labels. I don't like labeling in general. Here's a good example: You say you are a liberal. Jim Robinson was a registered Republican who once tried to run for a state office (I think). Though registered as a Republican Jim had the support of Kim Allen---in fact, I think Kim was his campaign mananager. Kim is a registered Democrat. I am moderate -- if you wish, Republican...by heratige. Bottom line, though I'm an Independent and vote without the restrictions of a political label. When I was a Republican PCO we were programed to vote "the ticket". Yuk!!! I'm not an organization man.
ReplyDeleteBack to the local election -- Marchione supports business and has the Chamber in his back pocket yet one close to him says he's a moderate Democrat. We are fortunate city races are nonpartison. A good candidate makes it difficult for the electorate to guess their party affiliation. I think Marchione was most expert here. In the end, a label or steriotype does not explain the person well nor should it? Actions, character, intent give more meaning and depth to where one "stands". Labels seem "a quick fix" and potentially hazardous "sound bite" about "who one is".