Nerditorial: Apexnerd Endorses Jack Louws for County Executive

(This being a Nerditorial, it does not reflect the views or opinions of Latte Republic or anyone else but me.)

I am voting for Jack Louws for County Executive for two reasons.

1. His Management Experience


2. His Capacity for Non-partisanship

First, his management experience.

I was a middle manager in the private sector for about a year and a half. And I'm using the term "middle manager" in the loosest sense of the word. I managed a section of 11 people.

I went from line level employee to management and I learned the difference between what I knew about management and what I thought I knew in crash course fashion. That year and a half was the most educational year and a half of my adult working life.

I wasn't running a County. I was just running a section of 11 employees.

The difference between having management experience (such as Jack Louws has in abundance) and lacking any management experience whatsoever (such as Mr Louws' opponent lacks) is a striking difference.

If elected, Mr Louws will not have to learn everything about the job of managing an organization as an executive officer from day damn one. He has performed as an executive both in the private and public sectors. He comes in with some understanding of what the true nature of the job of a County Executive actually is, based on his personal experiences.

Senator Ericksen, if elected, will be doing a lot of on-the-job training. He will be making his freshman year management mistakes as County Executive.

And now, Mr Louws' Capacity for Non-partisanship.

Put simply, after having met Mr Louws a handful of times, I am convinced he is capable of handling the office of County Executive in a non-partisan fashion. Having met his opponent a handful of times, I'm convinced that Senator Ericksen doesn't have a non-partisan bone in his body.

Pete Kremen has spent nearly two decades establishing an expectation in the minds of the electorate of Whatcom County that the County Executive simply doesn't have the luxury of indulging in excessive partisanship. In fact, Pete Kremen has made the task of balancing the interests and expectations of County citizens from all points on the local political spectrum look easy.

It isn't.

Pete Kremen, a Democrat, has made decisions as County Executive that have cost him a great deal of political capital among local Democrats. He has also made many decisions that have cost him a great deal of political capital with local Republicans.

But with the electorate as a whole, he has cemented in their collective minds the notion that the County Executive is to put the interests of the County ahead of the interests of any specific political party. And furthermore, he has caused the electorate to see this as an inherently reasonable expectation.

Regardless who is elected to County Executive, that seat has been run in a non-partisan manner in fact as well as in name. Pete Kremen's successor will be expected to continue that tradition.

Paying lip service to non-partisanship from the next County Executive just isn't going to cut it. And whoever is elected will learn that fact with a stunning swiftness.

If Jack Louws is elected, I'm not going to agree with every decision he makes, but I won't have to worry about the way he makes those decisions. And if I call or email his office, I can expect a response.

If Doug Ericksen is elected... not so much.

I Know Jack... and Doug Ericksen doesn't know squat.

I will be voting accordingly and I recommend you do the same.

Regardless your decsion, please cast a vote for County Executive. This is a big Biden deal.