Q & A with Heather Koellen: Candidate for 12th District Legislature
Democrat Heather Koellen and Republican Brian Burnett are vying for the open 12th District Legislative seat in the Nov. 5th General Election. The seat has been held by Keith Goehner who is making a bid for the 12th District Senate seat that opened up when current office holder Brad Hawkins decided to run for Chelan County Commissioner.
The moves are largely due to newly redrawn legislative district maps this spring. Koellen thinks she can represent voters across the new distrcit that has largely been a GOP stronghold because of similar issues accross the district including affordable workforce housing and infrastructure.
If elected, among Koellen's priorities are increased funding for public schools, expanded childcare options and advocating for women;s reproductive health.
Koellen is an ICU nurse at Harborview Medical Center and current North Bend City Council member. She interviewed by phone on the KPQ News at Noon program.
KPQ-- Tell our audience a little about your background and why you are a candidate.
HEATHER KOELLEN-- I am running for the 12th District House Representative position against Brian Burnett. It's newly been redistricted as of April, which is the first time ever that this district has a chance to have a 50/50, shot at Democrats and Republicans. I have been an ICU nurse since 2003 at Harborview. I've taken care of every kind of patient, from the poorest that live in encampments to the richest that fall off their yachts in British Columbia and everybody in between from four states. So I think I've seen every kind of person. I'm a North Bend city council member my second term, my fifth year and that has been very rewarding, where I can actually help things in my city. We have just increased our sewage treatment plant, things that I never thought I would think about, water, sewer, roads. It's amazing, and it's really important, and I love being a part of it. I'm hoping to win as a representative in the 12th district to do more of the same, but for our district as a whole, which would be King County, Snohomish County, Chelan County, and all the things that our citizens need, which is a lot. We have so much in common that we can fix together as a as a district, and I'm excited to be a part of that.
KPQ-- You received the most votes in the three candidate primary with two reublican candidates. How do you connect with voters and represent them from accross the aisle and from the opposite end of the new 12th District that has had GOP representation for so long?
HEATHER KOELLEN-- I totally get that, I hear that a lot, and I have been coming (to Wenatchee) I will be in Wenatchee next weekend, by the way, and I have been over there more than I can tell you. I feel like I live in Wenatchee now, at any rate, but I feel like we have so much in common. I live in the city of North Bend, which is just on the outskirts of the mountain pass. We're also near Seattle, but we're very much a mountain town, tourism town, and I feel very like Leavenworth and Wenatchee as well. We are similar in that, and everybody has problems with affordability, and everybody has problems with getting enough workers to work in the jobs that we need in these towns. And that is something I think I see on both ends as a North Bend city council member and resident, but also as an ICU nurse in Seattle and now going over to Wenatchee. It's things that we all we can work on, I can work on to help affordability, infrastructure, our roads so important. But yeah, there's so much we can work on.
KPQ-- On your website HeatherForHouse.org, If folks want to learn more about your campaign before they cast their ballot, you list; reducing homelessness, drug dependency, keeping neighborhoods safe when it comes to homelessness, what are some of your solutions?
HEATHER KOELLEN-- Yeah, so that's a real tough one that's so complex and it's different from city to city. So I'm not 100% sure what you guys are doing in Chelan County, but I can say on this side of the mountains that we are trying and not being very successful, but maybe we are and getting them housed. Once you get the homeless people housed, then you can be you're able to get the care that they need to move forward to have a meaningful life, which means having a job and being successful and not living in an account, but it takes a lot of work to get there.
KPQ-- A lot of money is being spent on that, do you think it is effective?
HEATHER KOELLEN-- That's a very great question. And so I think there, and I am not completely enmeshed. And to be completely honest, I think there is a lot of entities involved, maybe too many, and we need to put them together instead of having it all spread out, and have a better matrix of what is being done and what is happening.
KPQ-- What are some other priorities in your campaign for the legislature?
HEATHER KOELLEN-- Definitely affordability of housing, but also reproductive rights for women. That's a real big one for me. And I know that that is a hot topic for a lot of people, but as a nurse, I have to say it's not black and white, like where a teenager gets pregnant and has a baby and it gets to be adopted. It's bigger than that, because there's a lot of things that can go wrong in pregnancies. And what's happening right now in our nation with the taking back of reproductive health care is that women are dying and babies are dying, and nobody wants abortion, just to be clear. So that's one of my big ones, women's reproductive health rights. Also the fentanyl crisis is huge, we need to put an end to that. Public health and safety, we went a little bit too far away from letting the police and firefighters do the jobs that they need to do. So we need to come back and get the training and the resources that our officers need to do the jobs that they can.
KPQ-- You also list education and childcare and investing in public education and increasing funding for public schools. Many people are critical of how much we're spending on education, yet not getting the results that we want to see. And so how do you respond to that when we don't seem to be getting enough bang for the buck?
HEATHER KOELLEN-- I don't know that I said we need to increase spending. I know that we have a certain amount that we spend on every child for education, which is by the Constitution, and we need to educate our children, for getting the bang of your buck, that'S school district to school district. And I don't know that test scores are the way to go about getting those numbers. I think if you're looking for results, it's like what happens at the end of schooling. I also don't like taking money away from public schools. We're going to talk about charter or whatever vouchers that takes away from resources, that takes away from teachers, that takes away from everything. So I think we should keep the money in the public school system and keep it consistent.
KPQ-- I'm just reading right from your website, and it says, Heather believes in equitable access to education and child care, investing in public education, increase funding for public schools. So I'm just getting that off the website. Let's hear how you contrast you from your opponent and why do you think you're the best choice for the 12th?
HEATHER KOELLEN-- I think I am the best choice for the 12th because I look at all the people equally black, brown, white, Christian, non Christian, everybody. And I want to help everybody have the best life that they can have in the 12th district. He was sued by Chelan County for his business practice as a sheriff, and that cost Chelan County $4.9 million because of his business practices and retaliation to his employees, and I don't know that is a great person to have as a legislator.
KPQ-- It could have been the first question but how long have you been thinking about running for a seat in the legislature?
HEATHER KOELLEN-- When I got on North Bend city council, I really, really, really loved it, and I thought at that time, wow, wouldn't it be great to go a little bit further, like statewide? But at that time, I was part of the Fifth District, and our legislators, they were doing a great job, and they were incumbents, right? There's no way I'm going to beat them. So I'm like, I'm not trying to do that. They'll murder me, not murder me, but you know, (I'm) not going to win, and they're doing a good job. And then this 12th district, crazy redistricting happened, and I'm like, here's my shot. I'm going to give it a go. So that's what happened.
For more information on Heather Koellen's campaign and her campaign positions and priorities, visit her website HeatherFor House.org
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