The citizens of Auburn can be very proud, especially those who voted in the recent primary election, as it has been a long time since we had enough people willing to file for office, making a primary necessary.

Four years ago, John Partridge broke the mold by running for City Council against a longtime councilmember, and winning.

John believes as do I that our government system needs to be open, that qualified candidates should be encouraged to run for office in order to keep all levels of our government representative of our citizens. We no longer can expect that candidates will be “designated heirs” when a councilmember retires, or when a vacancy occurs mid-term, the appointee will automatically be chosen as the candidate. Thank you, John, for modeling the pathway for more citizens to serve our community.

We all know that John was instrumental in gathering people with the common interest in establishing the Auburn Valley Humane Society, and his leadership has proven invaluable. He helped coordinate the community interests with the City interests and we now have a place for homeless animals and our own animal control officer. A host of volunteers continue to make the humane society a viable part of Auburn. Thank you, John.

One of the issues that John believes is vital to our community is having a local judge. Unfortunately, he was the only vote on the council to keep Pat Burns here as our local judge. It is so important for our local law enforcement and citizens to know that the judicial system is familiar with our citizens and their concerns. Now, rather than a local judge, someone from some part of King County, other than Auburn makes judicial decisions about our citizens. I, for one, do not like seeing a King County officer smoking in front of our Justice Center, and should I have to go to court again, I would hope the Auburn citizens have a judge elected by the citizens.

The majority of the 45 years we have lived in Auburn we have lived next door to some member of the Partridge family. We were delighted when John and Shirlee moved next door, and it has been a privilege to watch their lovely daughters grow into such outstanding young women. We couldn’t have better neighbors.

During the general election there is more than one candidate running for each local office. We urge all our citizens to get to know all the candidates and decide which one will bring the perspective Auburn needs. The preliminary results indicate that almost half the voters in Auburn welcome some changes in our City government. We believe John Partridge is the person who will lead Auburn successfully into a new era.

– Kathy and Charlie Clarke