Sue Lani Madsen's Press Releases

Sue Lani Madsen (R) Edwall is a candidate for State Representative for the seat to be vacated by Rep. Bob Sump (R) Republic at the end of 2008. Rep. Sump announced his intention to fill out his term, but not to seek re-election, in April 2007. Madsen ran for the last open 7^th District seat in the 2004 Republican primary election, a seat eventually won by Rep. Joel Kretz (R) Wauconda from northeast Okanogan County.

Madsen is focused on bringing her 30 years of successful business experience to reducing regulatory overload. Madsen believes this is key to supporting a vibrant economy, developing access to affordable health insurance, investing wisely in transportation and preserving property rights. “We need to fundamentally reform why and how administrative regulations are developed and enforced,” said Madsen. “We have to keep the system working, but at the same time we need to start working on the system.”

Like many Suncrest residents, Madsen commuted to Spokane as she built a corporate career over almost 20 years before starting her own company. “I understand what it feels like to leave your home before dark and return after dark, while still trying to be a part of the life of your community,” said Madsen. “It’s a tough balancing act when your kids are growing up.” Madsen will be holding a town hall style event later this month to listen to specific concerns of the residents of Suncrest. Jeff Jurgensen, a Suncrest resident currently serving on the Stevens County Rural Library District Board, will be playing a key role on the Campaign Advisory Council.

Madsen is a licensed architect and founding partner of Madsen Mitchell Evenson Conrad pllc (MMEC), with offices in Edwall and Spokane. MMEC has grown from a solo practice to one of the top 5 largest firms in the Spokane market, according to the Journal of Business 2008 Book of Lists. She is also a partner with her husband Craig Madsen in Healing Hooves LLC, raising over 250 meat goats each year for weed and brush control projects across the state. Madsen is an active volunteer EMT/firefighter with her local fire district, and is familiar first hand with the need for brush control and the challenges of fire suppression in the wildland urban interface.

Madsen will be graduating in May from the Washington Agriculture & Forestry Education Foundation Leadership Program. She is also an Elder and children’s worship leader at First Presbyterian Church in Reardan. Her daughter Amanda, son-in-law Jeremy, and grandson Gabriel are currently living in Florida, where Jeremy is stationed with the USAF at McDill AFB. Jeremy is also a student with the Moody Bible Institute. The young family hopes to return to northeastern Washington after Jeremy completes a career in the Air Force.

The 7^th District covers over 12,000 sq. miles and includes Pend Oreille, Stevens, Lincoln, Ferry, northern/western Spokane and northeastern Okanogan counties.

For further information, contact Sue Lani W. Madsen at (509) 236-2411 or suelani@gotsky.com.

Class 29 of the Washington Agriculture & Forestry Education Foundation leadership development program gathered recently at Washington State University to present their culminating graduation projects. Sue Lani Madsen of Healing Hooves LLC in Edwall and her project partner, Cal Mercer of Alderdale Livestock Inc. in Prosser, researched barriers facing cattle producers in direct marketing their product. “As the only two livestock producers in the class this year, working together on a project related to our industries was a logical choice,” said Mercer. The team focused on studying the current marketing paths open to cattle producers who want to proudly declare their beef is bred, born, raised and processed in Washington.

The project paper, titled From the Heart of Washington – Developing a Local Marketplace, summarizes the options currently open to producers as well as future challenges. “We identified an emerging problem in 10-15 years as owners of custom meat cutting shops look to retirement and opening new shops becomes more difficult in the current regulatory environment,” said Madsen. “Our project will be a springboard to implementing solutions to this logjam.” Madsen is a Republican candidate for the State Representative seat to be vacated by Rep. Bob Sump (R) Republic at the end of 2008.

The Washington Agriculture & Forestry Education Foundation is dedicated to advancing the natural resource industries through enhanced understanding, education and empowerment of future leaders. The AgForestry Leadership program includes a series of 14 seminars over a two year period designed to enhance the skills of current and future community leaders in the natural resources field. Recruiting is underway for Class 31, which will be selected this spring for sessions starting in September. Applications are due in the Foundation offices by April 30, 2008. For more information, visit the Foundation website at http://www.agforestry.org/ or call the WAFEF office at 509-926-9113.

Sue Lani Madsen (R) Edwall, candidate for the State Representative seat to be vacated by Rep. Bob Sump (R) Republic, announced the appointment of county co-chairs for her Campaign Advisory Council. “I appreciate their confidence in me and their endorsement,” said Madsen, “and have asked them to hold me accountable to the values we share.” Madsen is focusing her campaign on small business competitiveness, healthcare and burdensome regulatory issues including the Growth Management Act (GMA). Council members include:

- Active in Christian missions to Swaziland, working with the women and children affected by the AIDS

- Active in the Republican Party at state and national level and former Stevens County Republican

- Representative to the US Grains Council for the Barley Commission, currently heading to Panama to make a presentation on malt barley

- Member of Washington Grain Alliance and Charter Member, WA Direct Seed Association

- Honored by Washington Health Foundation with a Heroes of Healthcare Award for Innovation in 2003 for her work at Mid-Valley Hospital

- Graduate of the Washington AgForestry Foundation Leadership program (www.agforestry.org)

Wayne Antcliff, currently serving on the Newport City Council, was listed as advisor to the campaign from Pend Oreille County when Madsen filed with the PDC in May 2007. Antcliff will be leaving the Council since it is now a contested primary, which conflicts with his role as State Committeeman for Pend Oreille County GOP. “Wayne is a creative entrepreneur with extensive small business experience, and we will miss his expertise on the Council,” said Madsen. Republican Party officers and elected state officials are directed not to make public endorsements in a contested primary under current party bylaws.

Also confirmed today was the appointment of Johanna Johnson Ellis as Campaign Manager. Ellis is a 4th generation farmer’s daughter, mother of pre-school twins, and volunteers with the Lincoln Hospital Auxiliary. “I have known Johanna for many years, and she is one of the most organized women I know,” said Madsen.

Madsen is focused on bringing her business common sense to reducing regulatory overload in support of a vibrant agricultural and business economy, healthy rural healthcare and preserving property rights. “Folks in the district have confirmed their top issue is confusing and expensive regulations of all kinds,” said Madsen. “Not all challenges in life require government control or government directed solutions.”

Madsen is a licensed architect and founding partner of Madsen Mitchell Evenson Conrad pllc, with offices in Edwall and Spokane. She is also a partner with her husband Craig Madsen in Healing Hooves LLC, raising and managing meat goats for weed and brush control projects.

Madsen is currently a member of Washington AgForestry Leadership Class 29, an active volunteer EMT/firefighter with Lincoln County Fire District 4 and a member of the Edwall Women in Action Service Club. She is a mother and grandmother, and teaches Christian values through the children’s worship ministry at Reardan Presbyterian Church. Madsen’s prior community service has included terms as Secretary/Treasurer of the 7th District Republican Committee, Secretary/Treasurer of the Lincoln County Farm Bureau and as a leader and county organizer for Camp Fire Boys & Girls clubs.

At the end of April, Rep. Sump announced his intention to fill out his term, but not to seek re-election. Madsen ran for an open 7th District seat in the 2004 Republican primary election, a seat won by Rep. Joel Kretz (R) Wauconda, Okanogan County.

"The legislature finds that uncoordinated and unplanned growth, together with a lack of common goals ... pose a threat to the environment, sustainable economic development, and the health, safety, and high quality of life enjoyed by residents of this state. It is in the public interest that citizens, communities, local governments, and the private sector cooperate and coordinate with one another in comprehensive land use planning" (Excerpt from the Growth Management Act, 1990).

After Thanksgiving, I spent three days in Seattle at an Urban Issues seminar with the AgForestry Leadership Program. You might expect a focus on traffic congestion and where to find the best latte; what we also heard was frustration with GMA Hearing Boards, how the lack of slaughter facilities restricts agriculture in the Puget Sound area, and the need for effective water storage to capture winter rains for summer irrigation in King County. The range of available solutions to these common problems plays out differently in northeastern Washington, but there is common ground in definition of the problem – over-regulation and micromanagement of decisions which should be made locally or individually.

Untangling this regulatory mess will not be easy, and we have to take the first steps starting now. The Legislature needs to take hard look at GMA. The original stated goals are worthy targets, but are we getting positive results? Are we retaining natural resource industries? How do citizens feel about the citizen participation goal – do they feel listened to or rolled over? Has anyone tallied up the unintended consequences in terms of housing affordability? Seattle may have stopped sprawl into the western foothills of the Cascades, but all those commuters motoring over Snoqualmie Pass daily are creating sprawl on a giant scale and putting pressure on agricultural lands in eastern Washington.

The implementation of the GMA has suffered from a common planning pitfall – pride. After investing time and money creating a plan, it is human nature to assume it is the right plan, and then to look for signs that we’ve got it right. In doing so, we completely miss early opportunities to make minor corrections to get back on track and accomplish our original purpose. It is critical when creating any plan to ask “what could go wrong” and monitor for signs of failure instead of opportunities for praise.

Spokane and Stevens counties have lived with GMA for nearly 18 years. The CTED web site (cted.wa.gov) has links to positive press releases, but I have yet to hear it praised at the grass roots level. It is time to give a graduation exam before the remaining counties are pulled into the process. We need a performance audit on the GMA – are we getting the intended results, and at what cost? If something isn’t working, there’s no point just trying to do more of it and hope for different results. That’s the traditional definition of insanity. Do we even agree on the standards to be used to judge positive results? Here are the 13 original goals as set out in 1990, plus the 14th goal for shorelines added in 1995:

They are not listed in order of importance. The State Supreme Court recently confirmed that no goal takes precedence over another, although clearly individuals and communities have their favorites. The original intent was for required planning to take place locally, but in practice a great deal of power has been exercised by appointed (and locally unaccountable) Hearings Boards to resolve the conflicts inherent in these competing goals. One neighbor’s definition of sprawl is quite likely to be another’s definition of economic development!

The baby boomer generation grew up learning that the solution to fixing a cantankerous piece of equipment was to give it a tap on the side, or add duct tape and baling twine to patch it together. The new generation hits CONTROL-ALT-DELETE and reboots the system. The GMA has been amended or revised almost every year since it’s adoption in 1990. We’ve tried the duct tape and baling twine approach, it’s time to shut down and reboot the system. But first – check our work and give it an honest appraisal – what’s working, what’s not working and what can we learn from experience.

Edwall, Washington—I was saddened to hear of the tragic passing of former Congresswoman Jennifer Dunn (R-WA-8). Jennifer will be remembered as a leader in her family, career, and party. She leaves behind a wonderful family and a legacy of selfless service. Among her many accomplishments, she was the highest ranking Republican woman in the United States House of Representatives, the first woman to chair the Washington State Republican Party, and before leaving Congress, she was honored by the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council with a lifetime achievement award for her unwavering support of our nations small businesses. We have lost a wonderful role model for the Republican party.

In memory of all that she has done for our party and our country, I will be canceling any campaign activities for the rest of the week. I would also like to offer my prayers and condolences to the family and close friends of Jennifer Dunn. She will be missed, but never forgotten.

Sue Lani Madsen is running for the 7^th legislative seat being vacated by State Representative Bob Sump (R). www.suelanimadsen.com


	Edwall, Washington	Republican