ELECTION: McCarthy stands up to powers that be
Tacoma’s District 3 City Council race has an unusually crowded field this year. Tom McCarthy stands out.
He has done more to personally meet the people in his district, and he knows what they care about. I have known McCarthy since 1999, when we worked together in Gig Harbor to stop a multinational corporation from having sole tolling authority over the Tacoma Narrows Bridge rather than the state, which answers to its people, not shareholders.
Our local Click Network faces a similar battle as private interests want to take it over and leave Tacoma residents without an alternative to a private corporation raising rates on Internet and cable TV service. McCarthy knows that privatization is not for the public good.
Developers too, whom we also challenged in Gig Harbor, need to understand the impact their activities have on the communities in which they operate. For too long they’ve shrugged off “external” costs of traffic congestion, school crowding and higher property taxes, expecting neighbors to quietly accept them.
For too long, Tacoma has undersold itself. McCarthy says Tacoma can shine like the jewel it is without submitting to the frenzied and unsustainable pace of development taking place in Seattle.
This story was originally published July 29, 2015 at 11:07 AM with the headline "ELECTION: McCarthy stands up to powers that be."