The race is on for mayor and the horses have left the gate. Clearly three horses are in the same race, answering the questions posed by The Mirror and giving readers a good sense of who they are and what they would be like as mayor.

The fourth horse, Jim Ferrell, seems to be in a race of his own. Each response he has made so far has left me asking “What??” The first question asked about the candidate’s vision for Federal Way. Mr. Ferrell’s response was more a statement of his election platform and didn’t really tell me about his vision for Federal Way. The second question asked about what the candidates are most proud of in relation to their work in the city. Out of seven or so years on the council, Mr. Ferrell talks about only his pride in pushing the vote to have an elected mayor. He could have done that as a resident of Federal Way. In seven or so years of being on the council, is there nothing substantive that he can talk about of which he is proud? Why waste an opportune moment to tell people about himself and the work he has done on the council on a “sound bite.” Is he just riding on the emotion of “let’s have an elected mayor?”

Other than that, we still know nothing about what Mr. Ferrell has really done on the council, or cared about, or feels proud about. The third question asks specifically what the candidates will do to stimulate the city’s economy. Mr. Ferrell does mention recruiting businesses and a college campus to come to town, but then outlines general statements about his vision for Federal Way. The question was “What steps will you take…?” So, again we are left hanging. What is he going to do? What are his steps? I say again, what??

Linda Purlee, Federal Way