I decided to run for public office because I love this city. I'm passionate about it. The experiences that I've had with our city government have been pretty much a closed policy, is what they have. And I believe that government is from the people. And to do that you need to have somebody represent the people. And we're not getting that in the council or in the mayor's spot that we have right now. And my goal is to be a representative of the people. And if the people come and say, "John, I got this issue. Can you take it to council for me?" and I will do that. My phone number and email address will be available to anybody and they can call me and I will return their calls or they can email me and I will email them back.

I would have respectfully asked the mayor to answer to the citizens of Sultan as far as some of the actions that he took. I would have turned to him as a council member and said, "Mr. Mayor, would you please explain this to me? Why did this happen?" And ask him. I never saw any council member ever ask the mayor, "What is going on?" Al they did was just sit there and hush-hush and let the mayor take the heat for stuff, but they never represented the people. They never did. And the bad press would be, again you'd have to go to the mayor and say, "Mr. Mayor, we need to change the image of this City." And with ProSultan, that's what they tried to do. They tried a different route to change the image of the City. And now we have another chance to change the image of the city. The mayor needs to be accountable. He said he would be, and he needs to show me that he is.

Well, again, it just comes back to listening to the people. For me that's a strong issue. You do have to be able to make some tough decisions. You're not going to be able to please everybody all the time. But you should, at least, try to explain your actions and not try to hide behind the lawyer and not try to be the strong gun -- you know, "This is my business" type [of response]. It's not just his business, it's everybody's business. And what I would have done different [is] just be myself. I'm just an open person and I would not just… You know, the police chief was a big issue for me. And I wouldn't have just gone off and said, "I want your resignation." I would have looked into the details of why do I want his resignation? Heck, we don't even know that now, why he wanted his [Walser's] resignation. And those are things, you know, it's okay -- I have a saying I use at work: "Do it right the first time, and you don't have to be so fast." So it's okay to take your time and do it right. And that's what I would have done differently. I would have done it right.

I believe that the developer or the landowner that sells to the developer should share in the cost of all of it. I mean, the city is going to -- you're going to get some burden from the people that already live here. But instead of just saying, "Here's the fee. You gotta pay it," and not looking towards the future of what effect is this development going to have on the existing community already. And it just seems that the developer says, "Okay, we're going to develop this. Here's the mitigation fees, here's the fees for the school, dah-dah-dah," but there's no foresight there, in looking at, "Okay, we'll put this development." They pay their fees, so they support what they had to do, the city picks up a little bit of it, the rest of the citizens, but now all of sudden, all of us have to pitch in to pay for a new sewer. And that, to me, is just lack of foresight. The percentage that should be paid by the citizens that exist should just be what they are paying now. It shouldn't up, it shouldn't go down. There has to be foresight. There has to be some foresight. It can't be, "Here's $2 million, I'm going to dig you a sewer" -- "Oh, great! Oh, great!" -- without any foresight of what about who's going to pay for the new tank we're going to need in the sewer, where's it going to go? And that, to me, is a big issue. Three's no foresight in government. You get down to percentage, I'd have to go in and look exactly, you know, get to know the numbers a little bit. Just to be honest. I'm a rookie at numbers. I'm really just for accountability in our city government. My job would be to go get you those numbers and give them to you.

Well, that's a tough question. [laughs, then pauses] Well, I don't think there could be enough quality economic development. But there certainly can be enough mini-marts, there can be enough gas stations with restaurants in them. But quality development, it does, it raises your property values for existing homes, but it also has the property of new homes that are also going to rise. So then you run into the balance of where's the affordable housing? Well, affordable housing in Redmond Ridge was $250,000. Affordable housing in Sultan is about $100,000-120,000. So there is a big difference there.

Quality economic development, I think, is something that should always been looked at and invited into the city. Gas stations and mini-marts, hmmm, those are services we need, but I'm sure if you ask the guy who runs the Chevron or Exxon, I'm sure he doesn't want another Chevron or Exxon. But it needs to be quality economic development. It can't just be thrown up -- a Taco Time or a Burger King or something like that. There has to be foresight.

No. I do not.

All existing laws in the…?

Wow. Wow, Loretta…All existing laws in the state, which one would I abolish?

Well, you know, that would take some thinking. There are several laws that make you think, "Oh, what a stupid law. Why do we need that law?" but then there's laws that are there so we can all get along. I, I really don't know. I'd have to really think about that a little more and look at it. That's a tough question.

Sultan's future five years from now? I would want it to be an inviting place to come, off of the highway instead of it being a thoroughfare. I would like to see Sultan become a destination. You hear people around here say, "Well, I'm going to Redmond to go to the park." Or "I'm going to this city because they offer this." I would like to see Sultan become a destination. I'd like to see the downtown corridor maintained and beautified and respected. And I'd also like to see some economic development on the highway, but it needs to be something that draws people here. If it's pretty and it's nice and it's something people want to do, they'll come here and they'll spend their money in the businesses that we have here. And I guess my goal is just to make Sultan a destination. Right now it's a place to stop and get gas and donuts and they go. And working in Bellevue, people I meet, I talk to them and they say, "Oh, you're from Sultan?? It's like out in the boonies, but it's not. It's only 30 miles from Bellevue. And we need to welcome those people out here with something -- a place to spend the day, a place to spend their money. Give them something to do. They'll say, "I'm going to Sultan today." And what a feeling the kids would have -- or anybody would have -- when somebody says, "Oh, we've gotta get going! We're going to Sultan!" It would be a sense of pride.

I'm a people person. I LOVE people. I love to talk to people, I love to listen to people. I have new ideas and I'm open-minded. I am not a member of any organization, not a member of any club, and my family is the most important thing to me. And so are my friends. And I'm a heck of a nice guy. And I'm willing to listen to people. You have to have an open mind. You need an open mind. When you have to represent 4000 people, you have to have an open mind to 4000 different ideas, because everybody has a different idea. And I'm also very strong and determined when I decide to do something. I do it.

I'm easy-going. I really am. I love people. And I tell them that, you know? I just live my life like it's my last day.