For 13 years until 2016 I was honored and thrilled to 1) live in the Pacific Northwest; 2) share a neighborhood with Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey; and 3) work for 10 of those years at The Columbian before retiring. In addition to interviewing Kimsey often for editorials and columns, I was privileged to know him as a neighbor.
Thus, it was easy for me to agree with your Jan. 2 editorial praising Kimsey’s two-plus decades of public service. The Columbian’s description of Kimsey as “one of the most accessible, transparent and forthright public officials to ever serve the citizens of Clark County” is accurate. I would also cite Kimsey’s neighborly willingness to roll up his sleeves and help me dig a French drain several years ago, plus tolerate the barbecue fumes I regularly sent wafting over his property.
Kimsey — and Washington state — will survive the tawdry tantrum aimed these days at election officials by radical right-wingers across America. Kimsey has a superb staff to support him, and Washington’s all-mail voting system is safe, secure, reliable and convenient, the envy of many states.
Count your blessings, Washingtonians. You would never want to trade states with me.
