Municipal/Other Questionnaire
Candidate Info
Candidate Name: Kate Baldwin
Position Sought: Auburn City Council, Position 2
Are you an incumbent for this position? Incumbent
Home Legislative District: 47th LD
Are you a Democrat? Yes
Campaign Info
Campaign Manager or Point of Contact: Tamara Stramel
Website: https://voteforkatebaldwin.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/friendsofkatebaldwin
Twitter:
Part I – Candidate Background
1. Please briefly describe your qualifications, education, employment, community and civic activity, union affiliation, prior political activity, and other relevant experience. Beyond your qualifications, what makes you the best candidate for this position or office? Please describe any specific background or unique perspective you offer and how those will help you accomplish your goals for the position sought. If possible, give practical examples.
As the incumbent candidate, I am familiar with the incredible commitment that is required to serve in office. I continue to be the best candidate because I will always do the work required for this role. I study the materials council receives to make informed decisions. I work with directors and staff to understand anticipated impacts to residents and clarify effects in both the near-term and long-term. I stay engaged with the community to ensure I represent their wishes before my own.
Being "close to the action," I have found that there are many people in elected roles who do little more than rubber stamp the ordinances and resolutions that are put in front of them. I stand apart from other candidates because I pay attention to the details. When something isn't right, I am willing to make difficult motions and I am willing to vote "No" until we have a solution that works. If that means longer meetings or reworking a proposal, I invest that time to get it right.
To do this work for the city and for council feels like a natural extension of my career. I have been a working professional for over 20 years in newspapers, non-profits, academia, and the private sector for IT and software. My background as a trained journalist and corporate consultant have been immensely beneficial as the bulk of the work of a councilmember involves reading and processing vast amounts of information efficiently, understanding new topics quickly, and working with a wide variety of stakeholders who all bring their own motivations and goals. I have learned to ask – Who does this help? and Who does this hurt? As simple as it sounds, this type of intentional engagement is necessary to be effective in the role.
And I like being involved. I have always been someone who steps up to volunteer. Since my youth I have found time to work with organizing addressing food insecurity, promoting the arts, and protecting civil liberties and women's reproductive freedoms. When I moved to Auburn, I joined the 47th LD Dems, stepped into different leadership roles, and continue to serve as a member of the Executive board. I've also enlisted my husband to serve with me in the Auburn Noon Lions Club on community projects like the Easter Egg Roll and Special Needs Fishing Derby. I continue to participate in these organizations even after joining council because for me it wasn't a get the title and stop volunteering situation. It was a get the title and use it to do more strategy.
2. What prompted you to run for this office?
My passion for public service has only increased after serving my first term. My list of "to-dos" has grown and I want more time to continue working on behalf of our residents and surrounding community. In my first term, like anyone else, I was the ropes and how to fit into a dynamic organization. I am more prepared now, with more tools and resources available to me, to put more initiatives into motion and contribute to positive change for Auburn.
3. What steps are you taking to run a successful campaign?
In this cycle, I have been able to get a head start compared to my original 2021 campaign. I was able to roll over left over campaign funds to give me a stronger financial footing on day one. I have been able to enlist a talented campaign manager with a strong background in direct canvassing. I am also seeking early endorsement from the LDs covering Auburn. I have already received endorsement from the 47th LD. I have spoken with the 30th to request endorsement and I will be present with the 31st this week to formally request endorsement. I plan to build a coalition of supporters and work with regional partners like our unions to build momentum for the campaign. Coming into this cycle, I have more experience and a broader network to rely on. Last time, I was a relatively unknown candidate. This time I have built a reputation as a candidate who serves the community and a candidate the community can trust as one of their own.
4. What are your campaign’s most important themes, issues, or priorities (three to five)? Share issues or priorities specific to the office that you’re running for.
I have two themes for this campaign – oversight and engagement. I believe it is the duty of city council to ensure that the administration is functioning in a way that is both responsive to and reflective of the community's needs. It is also our responsibility to serve as representatives in a way that invites collaborative governance within the community. We need to make sure that all voices have a chance to be heard.
My issues and priorities for a second term would include: 1) Identifying a site within Auburn to house a Veterans Village or similar STEP housing facility with supportive programming. 2) Working to expand our community safety through evaluating and/or piloting alterative response models for mental health/behavioral health that can augment the criminal response provided by our police department and potentially save millions in budget expenditures. 3) Deploy low-cost/low barrier measures to address extreme heat in the valley – shade cover, tree canopy, green walls, etc. – and incorporate passive cooling into design standards. 4) Support the investment in King County Metro Flex transit options to enhance hub'n'spoke services throughout our neighborhoods to connect them with regional transit centers. 5) Incorporate sustainability practices by incorporating a "food forest" into our parks system and work to partner with the Muckleshoot Tribe and other community stakeholders to ensure native plants and culturally-relevant fruits and vegetables are incorporated.
Part II – Yes/No Questions, please qualify your answer if necessary
1. Do you support steps to build a fairer economy through tax reform and progressive taxes as wealth increases? Yes
Optional: Qualify Your Response to #1
2. Do you support robust investment in publicly owned housing/subsidized housing for elderly and low-income individuals/families, and zoning changes to support such housing? Yes
Optional: Qualify Your Response to #2
3. Developer impact fees are allowed under the Growth Management Act. Should they be increased to help pay for needed improvements to our roads, parks, and schools? Yes
Optional: Qualify Your Response to #3 I would consider all potential revenue sources as a means to ensure a balanced budget while providing critical city services like roads and parks. That being said, we are currently in a housing crisis and there is a need to increase available inventory. I would want to fully consider all options before imposing new fees that could potentially slow development, or worse, impose fees that would be shifted directly forward to the home buyers and/or future renters who are already struggling with inflated prices in a market looming on a recession due to tariff impacts.
4. Do you support building a municipally owned and operated broadband system in your city or jurisdiction? Yes
Optional: Qualify Your Response to #4
5. Do you support local investments to address climate change where applicable? Yes
Optional: Qualify Your Response to #5
6. Do you support women’s unrestricted access to reproductive healthcare? Yes
Optional: Qualify Your Response to #6
7. Do you support laws regulating the purchase, ownership, and carrying of firearms? Yes
Optional: Qualify Your Response to #7
8. Do you support the right of workers to unionize and bargain, including public employees? Yes
Optional: Qualify Your Response to #8
Part III – Free Response (Please answer at least four fully, and consider the additional three optional)
1. Why are you requesting Democratic endorsement? What aspects of the Democratic platform most resonate with you?
At the end of the day, we are all individuals. The Democratic party is the one party who continues to support individual rights even when it is as simple as choosing whom to love and when to start a family. The Dems respect each person's choices. Not only that, I see the Democratic party as the party that listens, learns, and is willing to change. Whether the party learns from new scientific discovery or from new voices that have been welcomed in, the Dems are committed to growth and continuous improvement. It's about learning from the past, owning up to mistakes, and moving forward with a commitment to improve. I see those traits and values as real leadership. When there is real leadership, it means there is intentionality in everything else in the platform driving plans to deliver the most possible good to the greatest number of people. It's a work-focused ethic and it's the only party I see trying to drive real everyday changes to actually help others. Improve access to education? Yes. Pay people real wages? Yes. Give workers dignity? Yes. Save our wild lands? Yes. Invest in infrastructure? Yes. It's a call to action.
2. What public policy reforms do you support to achieve greater equity and inclusion for BIPOC and LBQIA+ individuals in our communities?
I supported the development of a new city department, the Office of Equity via Ordinance 6934. This department is specifically tasked with providing technical support, expert guidance, and accountability to all City Departments who are developing and implementing their own equity plans. The annual workplans for each Department will include equity goals.
3. What steps do you think need to be taken to improve voter turnout and increase voter trust in our election process?
Washington State is a leader in reducing barriers to voting from a logistical standpoint with approaches like mail-in ballots. However, I have still thought election day needed to be a federal or state public holiday to increase recognition and support for the process. From a municipal standpoint, I believe being available and responsive for inquiries from the public throughout the year is a big step in the right direction. At a local level, we should be focused on sourcing input and feedback from the public as much as possible when we are planning strategic investments and updating our comp plans, etc. The existing Auburn Civics Academy program is a great way to get individuals involved in understanding local government as a whole. The program's graduates are able to serve as advocates with their friends and neighbors and break down the barriers of a perceived us vs. them. Trust for elections can grow if we have trust in other areas. We just need somewhere to start.
4. What important local issues have you worked on (or taken an interest in) that you feel aren’t getting enough attention from elected leaders and the local media?
In Auburn, specifically in the Auburn valley, a recent study found that the ground temperatures are easily 15-20 degrees (and at times up to 24 degrees) hotter than other areas within King County. This extreme heat is significant for the residents living in the neighborhoods in this corridor. The housing in this corridor includes homes that are older, often built in the days when HVAC systems weren't automatically included. The lack of cooling technology affects our socially vulnerable who may have fixed incomes and cannot afford to install new systems or pay the overhead for temporary window units. We need to explore aggressive tree canopy initiatives and other measures to introduce passive, low cost/low barrier cooling.
5. Please list at least three specific, concrete actions you would support to ease the homelessness crisis.
6. What safety, law, or justice issues are currently facing your jurisdiction, and how will you address them?
7. What are the transportation/transit challenges which face your jurisdiction and how would you address them? What role does green energy play in your proposed solutions?
By typing my name below, I declare under penalty of perjury the foregoing is true and correct.
Printed Name: Kate Baldwin
Date (mm/dd/yy): 04/20/2025
