Issaquah, Sammamish Chambers of Commerce to host joint candidate forum Oct. 9
Published 9:36 am Monday, October 1, 2012
The Issaquah and Sammamish Chambers of Commerce, together representing over 700 businesses and over 50,000 employees, have announced a joint business-focused candidate forum with State Legislative candidates in the 5th and 41st Districts on Oct. 9.
Confirmed candidates include Mark Mullet, Brad Toft, David Spring, Chad Magendanz and Jay Rodne of the 5th District and Marcie Maxwell, Steve Litzow, Maureen Judge and Tim Eaves of the 41st.
The local eastside political races, especially the race for the open 5th District Senate seat, are thought to be some of the most competitive in the state. Independent political experts believe the 5th District Senate race may ultimately decide which political party controls the State Senate, setting the agenda for key decisions likely to be made in the 2013 legislative session and beyond.
“The Issaquah and Sammamish Chambers are excited to provide this opportunity for our community to learn more about how the candidates will support job creation, businesses success, government reform and economic competitiveness for our state,” said Deb Sogge and Matt Bott, executives of the Sammamish and Issaquah Chambers, respectively, in a joint statement.
The Forum will take place from 3:30-5:30 p.m., at Blakely Hall (2550 NE Park Drive) in the Issaquah Highlands and is free and open to the public, though a sizeable block of seats are reserved for local Chamber members.
Issaquah citizens and businesses can RSVP at the Issaquah Chamber website. Sammamish citizens/businesses can RSVP at the Sammamish Chamber website.
“It is clear that job creation, economic competitiveness, government reform and education excellence are what citizens and businesses are looking for right now from our state leaders,” Bott said. “Candidates must be prepared to provide bold, effective and bi-partisan leadership on these critical issues for our state, and we believe businesses, employees and citizens will be looking for results and accountability in these areas.”
The newly redistricted 5th District includes most of Issaquah, North Bend, Snoqualmie, Maple Valley and parts of unincorporated King County. The 41st District includes parts of Sammamish, Renton, Issaquah and Bellevue.
“This is an important opportunity for Sammamish citizens to meet their 41st District candidates since the shift in Legislative redistricting,” Sogge said.
Erin McCallum, Executive Director of Enterprise Washington, will be moderating the forum.
The Chambers, together with eight other eastside chambers, annually develop a legislative agenda consisting of policy recommendations for ways government can help businesses be successful and to improve quality of life on the eastside and in Washington state.
