Five questions with Sandy Kaiser, Travis Couture

Sandy Kaiser

1. Why are you running for office?

I believe in hard work, love of family, community and country, and that everyone in our community deserves the same chance for success.

For four generations, my family of loggers and farmers has called our region home. I’m running for office because I believe our rural folks deserve the same opportunities for a good quality of life as people in urban parts of our state.

To meet that challenge, we need more opportunities for family-wage jobs; schools that offer high-quality education and a safe environment; reliable, affordable broadband; access to good health and child-care. Homelessness and addiction call for effective action. We must uphold public safety and the rule of law, and protect our families, jobs and fundamental rights. Ensuring healthy forests and clean water is essential to our sustainable forestry and shellfish industries, and our very identity.

As the majority party, Democrats make most of the decisions in the Legislature. Representing us as a rural Democrat at the decision-making table, I will fight on behalf of Mason County to make sure our region’s needs are a priority in the state’s education, infrastructure and other budgets. Now is the time to look forward and make certain our voice is heard.

2. What credentials and qualifications would you bring to the Legislature if elected?

I am a deeply experienced leader in national security, conservation and education, with strong roots in our region. My family arrived here over the Oregon Trail and directly from Switzerland, to log and farm. Those generations worked closely with neighbors regardless of differences to solve problems and build community. My commitment to public service is their legacy.

I served our nation overseas as a Foreign Service Officer, under Democratic and Republican presidents, putting democracy and the rule of law first. For 25 years, I advocated for America and got things done with people in other countries who didn’t agree with us or even like us. I accomplished this through listening and identifying our common points of interest–a skill that will be important in the Legislature.

I returned home in 2011 with the equivalent rank of a two-star general. My husband, two kids and I bought a home in rural Thurston County. I went to work as a high-level official at the Department of Natural Resources, where I gained deep experience in state conservation policy and management of our forests and aquatic resources. Later, as a vice president at The Evergreen State College, I helped non-traditional students and military veterans earn their degrees while ensuring the college returned $4.68 to our region for every state dollar invested.

I currently serve as vice president of the board of the Capitol Land Trust, which preserves natural areas, working forests and farmland, mostly in Mason and Thurston counties.

3. Affordable housing and homelessness are both at crisis levels in Mason County and throughout the region, what legislation would you bring forth to help address these issues?

Homelessness requires a comprehensive approach that includes rapid rehousing and better access to mental health, addiction, and job-training resources. The Quixote Communities approach, with tiny homes for folks in recovery, has been effective in Olympia and Orting. I’m excited over the prospects for their next project, the Shelton Veterans Village, which will open here next summer.

Over the longer term, we need more affordable housing throughout our region. I would support legislation to make it easier to build more housing density in town through streamlining permits and encouraging more duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes. We need this “middle” housing so our working families, like teachers, first-responders and health-care workers, can live where they serve.

4. Crime, especially property crimes, are rising in frequency and visibility around the region and residents are concerned for their safety. What legislation would you propose to make the 35th District a safer place?

As your representative, I will ensure the Legislature supports our local rural law enforcement and assists the county in providing resources and training to ensure our communities are well supported and safe. Officers need equipment, training and additional personnel in order to answer 911 calls in an hour of need. I look forward to working across the aisle to ensure we have legislation that makes it easier for law enforcement to accomplish their mission to provide public safety.

5. The impacts of climate change pose a direct and increasing threat to businesses and people in the 35th District that rely on both the forests and the water. What measures would you propose or support to help mitigate that threat?

I’m proud to have support for my campaign from Taylor Shellfish Farms, Sierra Pacific Industries and the Squaxin Island Tribe. These are some of the major employers in Mason County. They support me because they understand I will strengthen protections for the stunning natural environment in which we live, work, recreate and store carbon. Sustainable forestry honors the legacy of our region’s timber economy. Our waterways support some of the most productive shellfish industries in the U.S. and our clean air means our communities breathe easy. We must ensure these treasures continue for our own well-being and for those who come after. It’s important to maintain progress in fighting climate change, while ensuring the burden of transition from fossil fuels does not land unfairly on rural economies and people. I am running for office to protect our way of life, our forests and waterways and our future.

Question from Travis Couture

COUTURE: In the Kitsap Sun, you stated your support for the Blake Decision, which essentially legalized the possession of hard drugs like Fentanyl that are rapidly killing people on our streets and creeping into our schools and threatening the lives of our kids. What is your plan to make our community safer while allowing deadly drug use?

KAISER: Fentanyl remains illegal in Washington state, and I strongly support that. People who use and sell drugs must be held accountable. Drug dealers should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Those who seek treatment for addiction need access to health care and support services. In the Blake decision, the WA Supreme Court ruled our drug laws were unconstitutional because the state did not require proof of intent. In 2023, the Legislature should pass laws that ARE constitutional and bring stronger accountability and solutions to this terrible problem. We need to work together to get this done. 

Travis Couture

1. Why are you running for office?

I love our rural community, and I have lived rurally all of my life. It takes all of us to pitch in and help each other out when needed, and having each other’s backs is just something we do, and that makes me proud to live here. Like many of you, my family has been feeling the devastating effects of inflation with high prices at the pump and at the grocery store. I have heard too many stories of our neighbors’ becoming victims of this rising crime wave which was empowered by bad policy in our state government. I have been frustrated with Seattle area politicians in the majority party ignoring the needs of our rural communities, and as a dad of four school aged kids, I am concerned with our K-12 system.

My campaign priorities are built upon our shared values: we want to feel safe, give our kids a great education, provide for our families, and enjoy our freedoms. It is that simple message, and feeling deeply that I have something to offer our community, that I decided to run for this position. My belief is that this is your position – the people, and that I work for you, and I am honored with a deep sense of responsibility to be seeking this position. I have been working hard on the campaign trail to meet everyone that I can, and I am blessed by the overwhelming support I have received. Please call my cell anytime at 360-473-3295.

2. What credentials and qualifications would you bring to the Legislature if elected?

I am a U.S. Navy veteran who served our country on ballistic missile submarines USS Alabama and Nebraska, and professionally I am a program manager with Lockheed Martin at the submarine base in Kitsap County where I assist in the management of over a billion dollars in strategic defense assets and effort for over 300 employees. I hold a Masters in Business Administration and a Bachelors degree in Organizational Leadership. I am proud of the work that I do, and I often have to lead diverse program teams in support of a critical mission – strategic deterrence – in order to ensure that the U.S. Navy can perform its mission and keep us all safe. Identifying critical needs, driving innovation, and setting goals that benefit all parties are skills that I have to excel at every day, and I am excited to bring those skills to the state legislature on your behalf.

As a dad of four school aged kids, I also understand the current struggles of our families, whether that affordable childcare or making sure they get a great education, because I live those struggles too. While people in our state grapple with a recession and high inflation, rising crime and homelessness, it is important that we elect someone who will fight for our rural community and provide balance in the State Legislature. I have spent over a decade working hard to understand this communities needs and desires, and I can’t wait to get to work for you.

3. Affordable housing and homelessness are both at crisis levels in Mason County and throughout the region, what legislation would you bring forth to help address these issues?

Every day we fail to make corrections on homelessness, more people die on our streets from overdoses, more crimes are committed on our people and small businesses, and importantly the more expensive this problem becomes to solve. Homeless living is too easy in our area, even though we have services available to help, and we need to make the decision to seek assistance and shelter easier than living in a tent encampment or on the street. Its tough to witness the human suffering all around us, and I am committed to ensuring we get people directed towards the services they need, enforce our laws, and discourage those who enjoy homeless living from coming here because they think we are soft.

In Mason County, the median home price is much higher than the median income of a Mason County resident, and that median income is not even close to the income required to qualify for a home loan. Put simply, the dream of home ownership is less attainable than ever, and when our kids graduate, the chances of them planting roots at home and building a life are very low. We have to do better, and I am proudly endorsed by The Affordable Housing Council as well as multiple builders and contractors’ associations, because like them I understand that the largest barrier to building new homes is the cost of permitting and regulations, not to mention the time it takes to make it through the red tape.

4. Crime, especially property crimes, are rising in frequency and visibility around the region and residents are concerned for their safety. What legislation would you propose to make the 35th District a safer place?

I am a proud supporter of our first responders, and if you see one of my signs you will notice I have emblazed that message right at the top of them. I want to give law enforcements all the respect, resources, tools, facilities, and funds they need to do the important job of keeping us safe. One of the problems we have in the 35th District is that we have the lowest per capita police in Washington State to cover our territory and serve our people, and to make matters worse, Washington State has the lowest per capita police in the United States. Although we have some of the best officers and Sheriffs Deputies in the region, we sometimes only have a handful of cops to cover 1,000 square miles. That cannot continue forever, and I support legislation to redirect state dollars to help with recruiting bonuses and retention so that our small law enforcement agencies can compete with surrounding more populous counties.

I also will fight to overturn the ban on police pursuits, make possession of hard drugs like fentanyl illegal again, and partner with the county to seek a new jail. When the majority party handcuffed our police and made it extremely difficult for them to act on crime, rural counties like ours became a soft target from surrounding populous counties. I am proudly endorsed by the Washington Fraternal Order of Police, and your local law enforcement, because they know I am serious about stopping crime.

5. The impacts of climate change pose a direct and increasing threat to businesses and people in the 35th District that rely on both the forests and the water. What measures would you propose or support to help mitigate that threat?

It is important that we protect our natural environment, not just for important industries like our world class forestry and shellfish businesses, but also for us and future generations as well. This is why I support working forests that sequester tons of carbon in Washington State, protecting our hydro-electric power and considering it a renewable resource, encouraging government and industry to work together on mitigating pollution by finding innovative solutions based upon mutual partnership, and finding ways to upgrade our power grid to support the consumer needs of the 21st century.

State government has gone the wrong direction, and the timing couldn’t be worse as we see record gas prices and inflation. Measures like cap and trade and a low carbon fuel standard will kill us at the pump when prices rise roughly 50 cents higher per gallon in January. A lot of people in our rural bedroom community have to commute long distances to work or to shop, and these high gas prices hit us harder than most. Most of us can’t afford the electric vehicles that the state government wants us to transition to by 2035, and our infrastructure is not ready for such a shift. Forcing us out of our vehicles and making it nearly impossible to drive to work or to the store is not the answer. I would support a cut to the gas tax, a repeal of the low carbon fuel standard, and an end to government telling us what we can drive.

Question from Sandy Kaiser

KAISER: Washington state voters approved same-sex marriage in 2012. There are thousands of these families in the 35th Legislative District, and they are treasured members of our community. Yet the Mason County Republicans, who have endorsed and supported you, reject marriage equality, insisting that it must only be between a man and a woman. Do you support marriage equality and will you defend the rights of these local families in the Legislature?

COUTURE: I have always believed that what free consenting adults do in their bedroom, or with the person they love, is between them and God. I respect the will of the people in regards to voter approved measures, unlike the majority party which fought and denied voter approved $30 car tabs, and also unlike the majority party’s continued push for income taxes after voters have repeatedly rejected them. I also believe we can do much better than trying to make this election about classic wedge issues that divide us further, and focus more on the pressing, crisis level issues facing us today. When I talk to people in our community, they are concerned about our economy and inflation, how to afford childcare or housing, broken mental health systems, rising crime and homelessness, rampant drug abuse, high gas prices, workforce shortages, and our kids falling behind in education. We owe it to the voters of the 35th district to focus on solving problems we have today by coming up with real and impactful solutions instead of diving into settled issues that no one is talking about changing. I will work tirelessly for all the people of the 35th district to make our lives better, no matter who you are.