Policy for the People
I'm not chasing a title. I'm running because Whatcom County families deserve a representative who stays close to the ground, not one who disappears into Olympia. This platform covers what actually shapes daily life here: the cost of living, safer neighborhoods, and a government that answers to the people who elected it.
More Affordable Living
My platform on affordability rests on three priorities: streamlining regulatory processes, modernizing land-use policy, and rebalancing our state tax structure to lower the cost of living for working families.
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Slow, costly permitting is a primary driver of escalating housing prices, so I'll push to use technology that speeds up plan reviews. This cuts holding costs for builders and passes those savings directly to homebuyers. I'll also work to reassess energy efficiency mandates that place unrealistic financial burdens on homeowners. And I support updating the Growth Management Act so municipal boundaries can expand based on actual community growth, not rigid, multi-decade schedules.
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Excessive taxation, meanwhile, is holding back local business expansion and hiring. We must fund essential services responsibly while giving working families the financial flexibility they need to thrive.
Building Safer Communities
Drawing from the encampment visit and his law-enforcement background, since that's the material in the article that maps to public safety specifically (the Second Amendment section reads as a separate topic, and Pike himself said guns aren't central to his campaign):
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As a detective with the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office and a National Guard soldier, I've seen hardship up close, here and overseas. But the homeless encampment I visited near Bellingham recently was as bad as anything I've come across. Building safer communities doesn't start with arguing over how much empathy we should feel. It starts with care and compassion that actually moves people out of dangerous situations instead of leaving them there indefinitely. That means holding people accountable once they enter the shelter and services system, and it means community service requirements for minor offenses, not a revolving door. Compassion without follow-through isn't compassion.
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It's neglect.
Holding Government Accountable
When I talk about holding government accountable, I start with the budget. Right now, money gets spread across so many programs that most families in this district couldn't tell you what their tax dollars actually pay for. That's not accountability, that's noise, and residents deserve better than noise. But it's not just about dollars. It's about whether the people you represent can still reach you once you've won. I don't plan to measure my time in Olympia by how many bills carry my name. I'll measure it by whether the people of this district can still get a straight answer out of me on my last day in office, just like they could on my first.