City of University Place

Jeanette Twitty is the founder and partner of Homeward Bound, a program that provides life skills training for those who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. She is also a member of the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber of Commerce, the Lakewood Chamber of Commerce, and a board member of the Washington League of Minority Voters, among other roles. 

Though Twitty has much experience in community service and leadership, her vision for the port is somewhat lacking. She states that she's running to bring good jobs and prevent pollution, bring more equity and diversity to the port, and sustainably invest, but her campaign website lacks detail about what policies in particular she advocates for or would do to change things. Her campaign materials, similarly, say that she will maintain and enhance partnerships that are critical to the port's success and address the port's impact on local communities, though again no specifics are provided. She has been endorsed by Pierce County Democratic Central Committee but has not earned as much support as her opponent in this race.  

Attorney Kristin Ang is running for re-election for Port of Tacoma Commissioner, Position 5 to continue building a sustainable vision for industry at the port. She seeks to protect community health and the environment by reducing noise and air pollution, improving water quality, and increasing shore power technology. Ang opposes the port's property tax and supports pressing businesses to clean up their share of pollution, developing a comprehensive public engagement plan, and working with tribes, businesses, and local government to create shared agendas for the port.

Ang is running against Dave Bryant, a Navy veteran. Voters may find this matchup familiar - Bryant and Ang also ran against each other in 2019, with Ang winning by about 3 percent. This year, Bryant's campaign is similar to his last run. He wants to optimize the loading and offloading of goods with surface transportation, update the port's infrastructure, and use his knowledge of operating deep draft ships to make the port more competitive. However, he still lacks Ang's knowledge and experience when it comes to environmental conservation and creating clean energy jobs.

Ang has worked hard as a member of the port’s tribal liaison committee, diversity, equity, and inclusion committee, and as a board member of the Central Puget Sound Economic Development District and the Washington Council on International Trade. She has earned your vote for Port of Tacoma Commission, Position 5.
 

Alecia Cunningham is the best choice for University Place City Council, Position 7 based on her endorsements from our progressive partners and trusted community leaders. She has served her community on the University Place Park Advisory Commission and on the Northeast Business District Advisory. While we have not been able to conduct our standard independent research on this race, we encourage you to visit her website, social media, or voters’ pamphlet statement to learn more.

T'wina Nobles is an educator and community leader running to retain her seat on the University Place School Board. Nobles is a current board member of the University Place School Board, and was previously a teacher at Stadium and Lincoln High Schools. Nobles is also the CEO of the Tacoma Urban League and the Black Future Co-op Fund, organizations that build cooperative power in the Black community. Nobles made history in 2020 when she was elected to as a senator for the 28th district, becoming the first Black state senator to serve in over a decade.

As someone who has worked in education for more than 15 years and has experienced foster care and homelessness firsthand, Nobles became an extremely effective champion for our students in the state senate. She passed bills to mandate 45 minutes of recess per day, expand our state financial aid for college, and require school supports for students experiencing foster care. She also introduced a bill that would have required schools to make school lunches free.

During her time with the University Place School Board, she has lead efforts to make sure every student can thrive, regardless of their zip code, family's income, or the color of their skin. She supporting funding school planners, homecoming events, and college tours to historically Black colleges and universities. 

Nobles' opponent is Linda Wojciechowski, a conservative Christian who is running for a seat on the University Place School Board. In her role as a volunteer jail chaplain, Wojciechowski made inappropriate and harmful comments about LGBTQ+ members of the community. She used similarly incendiary language in her multiple testimonies before the school board where she used fearmongering to divide us, rather than presenting real solutions for all students and families. 

Nobles would continue to ensure that every student has access to an honest, inclusive, quality education, and she deserves your vote for the University Place School Board.