Letter to the Editor: Time Divided for Elected Officials Filing for 10th District Seats

Below is a Letter to the Editor by Malcolm M. Russell of Lakewood.

Our elected officials irritatingly bounce from one elected office to the next. With a new 10th congressional district centered in the South Sound, it seems unavoidable that our county will now see two seated members of the Pierce County Council running full-time congressional campaigns against each other while also trying to perform elected committments and their shared responsibility on the council.

This trend of office hopping and campaigning while in office has become a career staple of our elected politicians. What stands out is that our elected officials are paid with tax dollars, and often paid very well.

If elected officials are operating full-time congressional campaigns or campaigns for other county offices while in office, then how much time and energy does that leave them for really doing our county's business? Perhaps it’s time to consider an elected-official waiting period where elected officials must fully honor their commitments and either resign from office or serve out their elected terms before running for a different office.