Aberdeen City Council Ward 1 Position 1, currently held by Melvin Taylor, is up for grabs, with three candidates vying for the seat: Taylor, Michael Trader, and Kimberly Strom.
The Daily World reached out to all three to answer some questions ahead of the Aug. 3 primary. Only Strom replied.
Kimberly Strom
Biography
I was born at Grays Harbor Community Hospital in 1972. Aberdeen is home. I graduated from Hoquiam High School in 1991 and shortly thereafter moved to Aberdeen, married and began my family. I have lived, worked and raised my family, in Aberdeen, now 30 years. My children attended Aberdeen schools and now my grandchildren as well. I have been a day care/preschool teacher, a photographer, a PTO member, a Sunday school teacher, a volunteer, a supporter, a neighbor, all in Aberdeen. I am currently an assistant manager at Cannabis 21, in Aberdeen and Hoquiam, and very soon to be Ocean Shores, since 2015. I am familiar with and comfortable in Aberdeen. I love my home. I want more of my neighbors to love their home.
Why did you decide to run this year?
To have a say. Window watching from my arm chair behind locked doors while complaining about the state of things and being frustrated that things aren’t changing hasn’t proven effective. Go figure. So, I decided to try something else. Doing nothing results in nothing. At least trying creates forward momentum.
What is the number one issue facing Aberdeen in the immediate future, and how would you tackle that issue?
Our shelterless population and all of our neighbors in need of mental health care are definitely at the top of the main issue list. There are safety issues, for shelterless and housed alike, there are health issues, physical and mental, needing attention. We have friends and neighbors alike daily struggling with either and/or both of these issues, some very publicly and others in private. It is equally destructive. I’ll begin by opening the lines of communication between all neighbors. We are more alike and dealing with more of the same madness than we realize, so why not figure it out together.
Homelessness
I spent time watching TASL being deconstructed, personal belongings being pushed around and scooped up by machinery, basic facilities loaded up and carted away, neighbors being everything but empathetic or sympathetic, by photographing, for personal use, the demise of another neighbor’s home. There was name calling, judgement, intimidation. Hypocrisy, hate, humiliation. It was a difficult experience to have a wide open window to, in my home, knowing homelessness knows no prejudice. We are all just a few choices away from falling. I feel that we should be doing so much better by our shelterless neighbors and also by way of our neighbors needing to learn a whole lot more humanity. We all need to be communicating our needs, to one another, without fear of prejudice, judgement, condemnation or malice.
