Press release:
My name is Chuck Rangel. My wife and I moved from Chicago to the Seattle area over thirty-seven years ago. We chose Burien because it had everything that we were looking for – many family friendly neighborhoods, great park facilities and an active center business core. We successfully raised five children in this environment. I believe Burien STILL has that opportunity available to many families who want to do the same thing – raise their families in a great small town.
In my thirty-seven years here I have been active and involved with many of the Burien “communities” – President of The Burien Jaycees, baseball coach of the Burien American Legion team and treasurer of the Burien Little Theater. I am Hispanic American and who served proudly in the US Army during the Viet Nam era.
I have many years of experience in organizational and financial matters in both the public and the private sectors including federal, state, city governments, and commercial banks. Governing a city requires the ability to understand fiscal matters. I worked for the Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington for three years. My past experiences and employment with this respected research service, will assist me greatly in making decisions as a member of the city council.
I believe that people of any city should have a voice in their government and have that voice heard. As with all of the groups I have worked with, the voices of members were the deciding factor in what we, as an organization, decided to do. We utilized the skills of some of the best our group had to offer. So too with the city; the city should seek and hear the ideas of its citizens. The city should encourage and reward their volunteerism. It is also their city and the council is elected to serve and represent the citizens.
I have lived through several changes of the Burien Business Core and believe I can help support a family friendly and successful business core through council policies. For too long the city has not provided the right environment of tax structure, policy and strategy to support existing businesses and entice new ones.
I was deeply alarmed to learn of the city’s failure to comply with state financial reporting laws. It is not acceptable for a governing body to tell its citizens to obey the law, pay their taxes, yet fail to comply with the law themselves. I will demand the city always be compliant with the law.
There must be an improved transparency in the city’s matters, so that the taxpayers know how THEIR money is being used. Compliance with the state’s financial reporting law will be a beginning for improved transparency and accountability to the voter.
If elected I will encourage the council to move in a business/family friendly manner with an open and compliant decision making process. I will be an active listener to your citizen concerns. I would appreciate your vote.
Sincerely,

Chuck Rangel

Rangel4Burien
P.O. Box 47148
Rangel4Burien.org