Municipal/Other Questionnaire
Candidate Information
- Candidate Name: Erica Buckley
- Position Sought: Edgewood City Council position 6 (Non-incumbent)
- Home Legislative District: 31st
- Democrat: yes
Campaign Information
- Manager or Point of Contact: Erica Buckley
- Phone: +12532603859
- Address: 2825 Milton Way #934
- Website:
- Email: e.b.buckley@hotmail.com
- Facebook:
- 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.
I am a first time candidate. I am an attorney and CEO of Buckley & Associates, a personal injury law firm in Seattle and Tacoma and Vancouver, Washington. My current community service commitment is as a board member of Treehouse, a, organization working to improve outcomes for youth in foster care. I also serve on committees with the Washington State Association for Justice which is an organization promoting the rights of individuals and protecting the civil justice system. In the past, I have volunteered in an unlawful detainer clinic, helping people fight evictions; in a domestic violence restraining order clinic; with Legal Voice on the information and referral phone hotline; with the Junior League of Seattle (a women’s service organization); and other community service activities throughout my life.
My only prior political activity is as a volunteer on other candidates’ campaigns.
2. What prompted you to run for this office? What are your campaign’s most important themes, issues, or priorities (three to five)?
I am running for office because I feel that city government can play an important role in improving the lives of its residents, or it can miss the opportunity to. I want to contribute to this place where my neighbors and I have chosen to live our lives, raise our kids, achieve our dreams.
The most important areas I am focusing on are safety, community, and opportunity.
Edgewood has been experiencing some growing pains for years, like our entire region has, and we need to make safety a top priority. Safe roadways and additional sidewalks enable people to move about better, get to where they need to be, and promote the enjoyment of the local community. A sidewalk may seem insignificant but if you have to walk in the dark to get to public transportation and commute to work, or push a stroller with a bunch of kids in tow, or rely on a wheelchair to get around, a sidewalk is necessary. Safety also means expanding how we think about crime prevention. Theft hurts our neighbors and damages how we feel about where we live. I would like the City to study other communities’ approach to crime prevention and try new methods.
Community is part of what makes Edgewood special. You really can feel that people care about each other and want to be helpful and neighborly. I also see some areas for improvement in making sure everyone is included in this feeling of community. I think the city council should try a new approach to going out and interacting with residents with the purpose of bringing more people in. There are a few events that the city hosts but I would like to see more and see those advertised and better attended. I would like to see the city highlight some of the super-neighbors in our community and support the work people are already doing to be there for others in need. I think that adding new perspectives and new voices to the city council can further a sense of community when constituents can feel that city government is representative of the people who live here and actively seeks their opinions on the issues before the city council.
Creating more economic opportunities right in Edgewood is my third issue I want to focus on. Small businesses are essential, and small business owners need all the local support they can get. I would like the city to work with the local business owners to understand their pain points. In my professional role, one of my biggest pain points is not being able to find enough qualified candidates to fill the open positions. The city of Edgewood could take an active role in helping job seeking residents and local business owners find each other. Another piece of opportunity is making sure that in the growth and prosperity mode of this city, we are not leaving people behind. There are people experiencing housing instability, loss of jobs, hunger, etc. who need more local resources to help them through difficult times so they do not have to travel for help.
These are just three areas where a high functioning city government can really impact people in a positive way and I would like to contribute to the work of making good things happen in Edgewood.
3. What steps are you taking to run a successful campaign?
I really am just getting started. I have a wonderful person helping to guide me. I plan on launching a website soon. Using social media to introduce myself to voters and drive traffic to the website. I will be purchasing yard signs and informational handout materials. If there are and community events this summer I will participate. I will also distribute door hangers throughout town. I live on a friendly street and I will ask my neighbors to spread the word among their own personal networks as well.
Part II – Local Issues
1. Would you support the establishment of a safe injection site in your district?
No
2. Would you support the administration and police force in your jurisdiction adopting a sanctuary policy, forbidding the sharing of local resources and labor with ICE?
Yes
3. Do you support raising revenue at the city level to expand transit service?
Yes
4. Should transportation policy discourage the use of private automobiles and encourage the use of public-transit?
No
I believe public transit should be encouraged, however, I am unclear what is meant by “discourage the use of private automobiles.” I do not support making driving more expensive for the people just trying to make a living and support their families and get to where they need to be.
5. Do you support building a municipally owned and operated broadband system in your city or jurisdiction?
Yes
6. Do you support requiring police officers in your jurisdiction to wear body cameras?
Yes
7. Do you support repealing Tim Eyman’s I-747, which artificially limits property tax increases to 1% per year, regardless of population growth, inflation, and need?
Yes
8. Should government assist individuals, and families who are without sufficient food, shelter, or basic necessities through no fault of their own?
Yes
Government has a responsibility to do this. I do not believe it matters whether people are in need through no fault of their own or whether their actions brought about those consequences, government must help the needy and protect the vulnerable and enact policies which advocate on behalf of the people in greatest need.
9. Should the wages paid to workers in Washington State be raised incrementally towards the goal of living wages?
Yes
10. Will you seek opportunities to mitigate the human activities that are contributing to disastrous climate change?
Yes
Part III – Free Response
1. Why are you requesting Democratic endorsement? What aspects of the Democratic platform most resonate with you?
I am requesting Democratic endorsement because I believe I am a qualified and worthy candidate. I am an ordinary citizen who believes in serving others and who believes that the government should work to enhance people’s lives. I believe in the power of a group of concerned citizens working together on behalf of those who feel powerless or like outsiders or invisible and forgotten. I believe in loving your neighbor. And I believe that essentially the Democratic platform can all be summed up in loving your neighbor.
2. 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 media?
Right now, I think Covid’s impact on children is being ignored. Now that many adults have been vaccinated, I feel like people are not paying attention to the fact that children under 12 are not vaccinated and still at risk.
3. Please list up to three specific, concrete actions you would support to ease the homelessness crisis.
Free of charge addiction treatment, mental health treatment, and addition of low or no income housing.
4. What are the barriers to economic prosperity faced by residents in your jurisdiction, and how do you plan to address them?
The high cost of living is a barrier for most. Another barrier is the distance at time spent traveling to good-paying jobs. Another barrier is the high cost of childcare which forces some parents and grandparents to leave the workforce to provide childcare. These issues are certainly not specific to Edgewood. These are big problems that leaders have grappled with for a long time and I do not have a magic pill to fix these issues but I do believe that with huge problems, the best way to tackle them is through small, incremental change that helps create a new normal over time.
5. What are the transportation/transit challenges which face this jurisdiction and how would you address them? What role does rail play in your proposed solutions?
Edgewood feels more remote than it really is. It is difficult to get around the area relying solely on public transportation. For example, the Sounder is right down the hill in Puyallup, however there are hardly any busses that will take someone from Edgewood to the Sounder station. One simple solution to that particular problem would be to have a shuttle service from three or so locations in Edgewood down to the Sounder station and back.
6. What are your jurisdiction’s environmental issues, which ones are urgent and what will you do to address them?
A big environmental issue is our rapid growth and the strain that is putting on our environment. Open spaces are being developed into high density residential neighborhoods. Along with the growth comes more cars on the roads and more carbon emissions. All of these issues are urgent. I do not have the answers. However, focusing on bringing more businesses into Edgewood and having opportunities for residents to work close to home is a way to help eliminate the need to commute and pollute.
7. Does your district have a taxing authority or propose levies and what changes, if any, would you seek?
Yes. I have not researched what changes I would seek.
By typing my name below, I declare under penalty of perjury the foregoing is true and correct.
Printed Name: Erica Buckley
Date: 05/25/2021
