Although I’ve lived in Snohomish County since 2002 and Washington since 1989, get me talking and you’ll probably note the remnants of a southern accent courtesy of growing up in southwestern Georgia (peanuts and Jimmy Carter country).
After graduating from the University of Georgia with an undergrad degree in journalism, I went “north” to Virginia Tech for a master’s degree in agricultural economics. My next move was to Yankee-land. From suburban Philly, I advocated for dairy farmers in Congress, managed communications for a dairy cooperative similar to Darigold and ran a leadership program for young farmers.
In 1989, I channeled a king in a game of checkers and jumped across the county to follow my then-husband to Pierce County. He built a new facility in Sumner; I worked on the Growth Management Act initiative on behalf of farmers.
Eventually I would represent pulp and paper companies on recycling issues and collaborate with then Ecology Director Chris Gregoire on unclogging the backlog of water rights permits facing the agency. The Water Resources Forum brought together tribes, recreational organizations, federal organizations, farmers, developers and general business interests to develop two pilot projects for Ecology that granted local communities the power to make community decisions about water use.
These experiences honed my listening, collaboration and negotiating skills and marked the first time I had worked with tribes in my career. I had extreme respect for Billy Frank, Jr. and the cohort he represented, while learning about first-in-time, first-in-right water rights. That was a foreign concept to an east coaster, where water quality was a more contentious issue than availability.
I also came to realize that my public policy driver was akin to the mantra of the traditional journalist: speak truth to power. In public policy, however, it’s not only “speak” truth but “fight for” programs and policies that empower the powerless.
Very early, I fell in love with the nascent World Wide Web and taught myself HTML. In 1995, I built and ran one of the first political candidate websites in Washington. I was selected to present a paper at the 1997 WWW3 Consortium annual conference in Santa Clara. In my career, I was beginning to merge my liberal arts and science interests that made themselves known during collegiate years.
Somewhere along the way I also began a love affair with motorcycles, which is where I met my husband and partner of 24 years, Michael Schamens. And moved to Snohomish County!
About my career in education: I was a Dale Carnegie instructor before I was a Seattle Central and University of Washington professor. I also taught people how to ride motorcycles for more than 20 years. Working with students of all ages and ethnicities helped me focus listening skills and acknowledge my class might not be the most important thing in their lives. This awareness helped me enhance empathy and understanding.
I retired from UW last summer and have immersed myself in the League of Women Voters SnoCo chapter.
I have the time, energy and skills to help shape Snohomish County as it moves into the 21st century. I hope you think so, too, and pick me as one of your choices in the general election!
As someone who has known you almost as long as Mike, I’m thrilled you are running for office and know you will be terrific. I trust you will be as effective in this role as you have been in so many others. Wish I still lived next door so I could vote for you!!