Pierce County Executive candidates danced around some great questions Tuesday night at a candidate’s forum hosted by the Korean Women’s Association. Moderated by Tacoma’s own Derek Young, the event filled seats with a diverse cross-section of Pierce County’s Asian-Pacific Islander communities, with Korean, Vietnamese and Cambodian translators on hand. Profound kudos to the Korean Women’s Association and event organizers for a thoughtfully arranged presentation that really took everyone attending into account. 

 

Mike Lonergan gets the Weekly Volcano “Remember Where You Are” award for addressing the audience at hand, responding thoughtfully in at least two instances to issues relevant to Pierce County’s Asian-American voters, and eliciting applause for those two responses. In response to a question about strategies to improve the lives of Asian-American youth in Pierce County, Lonergan offered, “Our community has a lot to learn from the way education is cherished in Asian cultures.” Lonergan won big points with that gem, a call to firmly establish the Asian-Pacific Cultural Center, and for recognizing the importance of Asian-American youth as future ambassadors of international trade. Lonergan owned the room often, and responded most convincingly most frequently. I believed at least four of his answers. 

 

Shawn Bunney wins the “Oh No You Didn’t” award for responding to the same question with an awkward, non-melodic recitation of the first half of the chorus to Whitney Houston’s “The Greatest Love.” “I believe the children are our future …” Stop laughing.  Bunney was the most comfortable and natural of the candidates. And while he, along with everyone except Lonergan, seemed completely unaware of the fact the event was specifically geared toward the Asian-American community, Bunney does win the “I Know What’s Going on in Pierce County” award. Bunney edged out Lonergan with insightful references to consolidating bloated county regulation rolls, extending highway 167 to the Port of Tacoma, which is projected to bring 80,000 jobs with it, and the need to support businesses.

 

County Auditor Pat McCarthy takes home the “I Actually Mean It When I Talk About Streamlining Government” award. McCarthy backed her promises to whittle away at government excess with examples of past accomplishments and dozens of reminders that she is, after all, an auditor. McCarthy was effective in providing actual examples of past accomplishments to support some of her positions. 

 

“I believe government can be efficient,” she said. “That’s what I do every day as county auditor.” 

Calvin Goings wins two awards. First, he earned the “Let’s Get Specific” award. He wins this for two reasons. First, he used the word “specific” a lot. Second, he mentioned a lot of specifics, usually in threes. Three is the magic number. 

 

“I have been focused like a laser,” he said when asked about his vision for the future of Pierce County. 

 

Goings then offered the following three priorities for enacting his vision: providing hope and opportunity for all residents; friendly and efficient government; and establishing safe, livable communities. 

 

That brings us to Goings’ second award — the “Are You Sure You Meant Laser?” award, for offering the greatest collection of forgettable political platitudes. He made up for some of them with memorable propositions like the Pierce Corps, which would create opportunities for students to earn college credit for participating in community service programs. Goings was full of good ideas, and seemed most qualified to follow through on promises to be innovative. 

 

Finally, a “Poised Under Pressure” award to Derek Young for keeping his cool as the forum was hi-jacked by a woman who really wanted to talk about issues relevant to senior citizens. 

 

We’ll see who wins the “Pierce County Executive” award in a couple weeks.