Letters to the Editor

Op-ed | Experiences provided more well-rounded view of political landscape

Five students from Gig Harbor and Tacoma researched and interviewed candidates for the 26th Legislative District state Senate seat: Incumbent Sen. Deb Krishnadasan, D-Gig Harbor, and challenger Rep. Michelle Calider, R-Gig Harbor. The students of Mimmi Beck, a Gig Harbor ACT/SAT tutor and college admissions coach, wrote essays based on their experiences.

My name is Nathan Lillie and I am a senior at Bellarmine Prep. My father being a police officer as well as my grandfather being former military has influenced my perspective. At home I get an inside view of a police officer’s life. I am applying to the United States Air Force Academy, so I would appreciate a more well-rounded view on the political landscape of the country I will serve.

Interviewing Michelle Caldier, I was expecting to walk into a tense atmosphere. Instead, it felt like a family reunion. Michelle’s incredible support for the safety of our community comes primarily from her backing of local police. She advocates for “allowing cops to be cops.” Current legislation does not allow police to properly get rid of crime and protect the community. She said that police officers second guess their actions because of fear of legislation and that this is an important issue as “police hesitation causes danger for themselves and the community.”

Nate Lillie

Since one of her major campaign topics is finance, she talked a lot about what she would do to reduce spending. She said that “the cost of living will not allow the average teen to ever be a homeowner.” She sees “taxes raise the price of diesel by 60 cents per gallon.” She wants to create a pro-business coalition.

When she took her dental practice to a nursing home to help the community, she saw that the residents did not have proper access to sufficient dental care. Her story made me think of how my grandparents will likely be in a home in the future and I never thought of the possibility that they would not be treated as they should. I found that she will support especially groups that are significantly mistreated: business owners and police.

In conversing with Deb Krishnadasan, I saw vividly how much she adores the community along with her dedication to growth with her community. One of her primary concerns lies inside of keeping tax increases as low as possible as well as making childcare more accessible. She recently supported a bill that was passed with regards to childcare access on the Key Peninsula, which previously had no facilities dedicated to childcare. She said, “working families could not take their children to a local facility.” She says, “One of my greatest tools is listening. I often ask people what their thoughts are.” She voted completely against her party on a bill and separately stated, “I voted no on all the tax increases.”

In my experience doorbelling through Gig Harbor neighborhoods, my talks with local voters showed me that while a lot of voters are informed, a significant amount were uninformed. One resident actually said of Deb, “She’s a Democrat right?” and upon hearing that Deb was in fact a Democrat they said, “Great, she has my vote.” When Deb came across these people she took the time to talk more. I think that Deb will best represent the working class, teachers, underserved people, and people inside of local unions. My hope in presenting this article is not to sway voters in any way but instead to inform voters of their two candidates for the betterment of the state and country.

Nathan Lillie

Gig Harbor

Bellarmine Preparatory School