Issue Statements

Isthmus Rezone

• Statement to City Council from 5/20/2008
• Statement to City Council from 12/16/2008

Janine has personally met nearly 4,000 Olympia voters over the last four months as a candidate for Olympia City Council. She has been listening to voters on issues regarding:

• the isthmus
• the health of our downtown economy
• parking
• the new city hall
• neighborhood safety, graffiti and traffic
• environmental issues
• growth and development
• the need for affordable housing for seniors
• the lack of appreciation for our military in Olympia
• the need for the city council to stick to city business
• city relationship to the Port of Olympia
• city budget
• impact fees
• sea-level rise concerns
• greenhouse gas concerns
• the city's relationship with its citizen advisory commissions
• the role of city staff to the city council
• Ingersoll Stadium
• Chambers Creek Basin
• Tri Vo developments
• round-a-bouts and traffic safety
• streetlight outages
• homelessness/poverty issues
• living wage jobs in Olympia
• police and their behavior toward young people and people of color
• sidewalk priorities and curbcuts to nowhere
• preservation of affordable housing for fixed and low-income residents
• Capitol Lake/estuary issue
• Olympia Downtown Association/PBIA
• port issues
• East Bay development

• and more!

Dear Concerned Olympian,

All citizens deserve to be heard and treated with respect by their elected officials and if you’re like me, you believe that government should be responsive to the people it serves. But too often, our elected officials have dismissed the concerns of Olympia’s citizens.

That's just one of the reasons why I’m running for Olympia City Council against Jeff Kingsbury. With your support, I’ll bring a fresh perspective to city government, focus on the issues that matter most to your family and mine, and do what is right for our community.

As a small business owner, I understand the serious impact that the national financial crisis is having on our local economy. As the mother of two kids and a caregiver to the elderly, I confront the enormous challenges facing our families every day. As a 26-year resident of Olympia and long-time community advocate, I have worked to bring the people of our city together to make it a better place for all of us.

Regarding the issue of our waterfront, I opposed our City Council's decision to rezone the isthmus to allow the construction of high-rise luxury apartments. I was the first citizen to testify before the city council against the rezone, organized a well-attended forum on the issue, and as a community journalist, wrote articles about the issue on my blog at www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com.

I have lived downtown or near downtown for most of my 26 years in Olympia and support market-rate housing downtown, but not on the isthmus. There are better, more appropriate locations for housing that meets the needs for all our citizens.

As your city councilmember, I will respect your opinions and encourage your participation in all of the important issues facing the city. I will make city government more open and accessible and enlist citizens to work with me to reach our shared goals. Together, we can protect our quality of life by defending our neighborhoods from inappropriate development and improving city services.

Thank you for working with me to improve our local government. If you have any questions about where I stand on an issue of concern to you, please let me know, and I thank you for your vote.

Janine

Contact Janine for her thoughts on these issues and more!

Janine Gates meets downtown resident Beverly Taylor to discuss issues related to downtown and her neighborhood.