Election season civility at all-time low

This election campaign season has been filled with a level of animus I can’t ever remember seeing before. The lack of civility and the negativity may be reaching an all-time low. Recently, the community of Renton has been served up a plateful of disrespect by Steve Litzow, a candidate for the Washington 41st District House of Representatives. The 41st District includes much of the cities of Bellevue, Renton, all of Mercer Island and Newcastle, plus a portion of Issaquah. Mr. Litzow has stated that Mercer Island and Bellevue are the “gold standard,” which implies that Renton is inhabited by people of seemingly lesser status. Certainly, from an economic perspective, Mercer Island and Bellevue may rate higher on someone’s scale, but to insult and demean an entire community smacks of a degree of elitism and arrogance which defies logic. One might suppose that since he’s running for 41st District Representative, he might consider the fact that he would be expected to represent all of the citizens in the district, including the people of Renton. I can’t believe that the majority of the citizens of Bellevue, Mercer Island, Issaquah and Newcastle feel that Litzow’s “gold standard” statement reflects positively on their communities.

I believe Mr. Litzow embodies the arrogance of what, sadly, seems to be the Republican Party’s current philosophy. Or, perhaps he has merely written off the constituency of Renton, to his opponent, Marcie Maxwell.

Marcie Maxwell has been the victim of an ongoing barrage of negative ads containing outright fabrications, gross exaggerations and misleading innuendoes, yet she has tried to stay above the fray of negativism. She is sticking to factual comparison between herself and her opponent. Is it any wonder why every member of the Mercer Island and Renton School Boards, and the majority of the Bellevue and Issaquah School Boards have endorsed Marcie for the 41st District? City Councilmembers from Mercer Island, Issaquah, Newcastle and Renton also endorse Marcie Maxwell. These are people who know the value of working together for the betterment of all of the people in our community, the 41st Legislative District, not just for those who consider themselves among the chosen few. I’m convinced that the majority of us feel the same way, we have diversity in our communities, but we must work together to accomplish a common goal – improving our quality of life. Mr. Litzow should reconsider his motivation for seeking to represent all of the 41st District; he simply lacks the integrity for the job.

Brent Beden

Renton, WA

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