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Justin Paulsen (San Juan County Council District 2, Washington, candidate 2024)

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Justin Paulsen

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Candidate, San Juan County Council District 2

Elections and appointments
Last election

August 6, 2024

Education

Bachelor's

Western Washington University, 1996

Personal
Birthplace
Renton, Wash.
Profession
Contractor
Contact

Justin Paulsen ran for election to the San Juan County Council District 2 in Washington. He was on the ballot in the general election on November 5, 2024.[source]

Paulsen completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.

[1]

Biography

Justin Paulsen provided the following biographical information via Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey on July 31, 2024:

  • Birth date: March 26, 1975
  • Birth place: Renton, Washington
  • High school: Oliver M Hazen High
  • Bachelor's: Western Washington University, 1996
  • Gender: Male
  • Profession: Contractor
  • Prior offices held:
    • Park Commissioner (2015-Prsnt)
  • Incumbent officeholder: No
  • Campaign website
  • Campaign endorsements
  • Campaign Facebook

Elections

General election

General election for San Juan County Council District 2

Rick Hughes and Justin Paulsen ran in the general election for San Juan County Council District 2 on November 5, 2024.

Candidate
Rick Hughes (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
Justin Paulsen (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for San Juan County Council District 2

Rick Hughes, Justin Paulsen, and Jonathan Jonnie Welch ran in the primary for San Juan County Council District 2 on August 6, 2024.

Candidate
Rick Hughes (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
Justin Paulsen (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
Jonathan Jonnie Welch (Nonpartisan)

Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.


Election results

Endorsements

To view Paulsen's endorsements as published by their campaign, click here. Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Paulsen in this election.

Campaign themes

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection

Justin Paulsen completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Paulsen's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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I am a 20+ year resident of San Juan County.

As a small business owner and father of five children, I have a deep appreciation for the realities of what maintaining a foot-hold in our county requires. In my time in San Juan County, I have dedicated much of my efforts towards serving the needs of my community.

I have served on numerous charitable boards, and currently serve as a founding member of Recovery In Community, a service organization dedicated to serving those with addiction issues and assisting them in recovery. For the past 9 years I have served as an elected Commissioner for the Orcas Island Park District. Currently I also serve as the Chair of the San Juan County Ferry Advisory Committee, representing our counties needs to Washington State Ferries.

I have consistently strived to serve my community by being an advocate for those most in need among us. I hope to bring that representation to the County Council and continue that work at an even broader level in service to the people of San Juan County.
  • We must, as a county work to improve communication and build trust. This is not just within our community, but also within our departments and amongst or staff and partner organizations. Our county government has a lot of work to do to best serve our various islands, but we can only do so by assuring that we are meeting our residents where they are at and including them in our planning and discussions. I bring the proven ability to facilitate that process, bringing all perspectives to the table for honest, productive and inclusive decision making.
  • In planning for the future of our county, we must be sure that our codes and planning are not only clear, but that our goals and vision provide equitable solutions. We must assure that we provide opportunities that serve all levels of our population, addressing critical housing, transportation and resource needs for our community members. As pressures related to our environment continue to impact our lives, it is up to County Council to balance any growth with the ever-limited resources available. San Juan County is and should continue to be a leader in demonstrating leadership in our region regarding issues important to the environment and marine habitat.
  • Now more than ever before, securing transportation solutions for San Juan County is a priority in our community. We can no longer afford to defer working on localized transportation solutions that should have been worked on for well over a decade. The health, safety and productivity of our community is being impacted by the unreliability of Washington State Ferries to the point that it is time for decisive and immediate action. I hope to bring my experience with these tough issues to the table and partner with our vast number of localized experts to help guide San Juan County towards a path focused more on self-reliance.
On a local level, Housing, Transportation and Sustainability are the three major public policy issues that I believe need primary treatment by our Council.

Our current council has done good work on these priorities, but we need to bring additional perspective and resources to these issues. Our planning for these issues must be a constant process, incorporating consideration of the effect of policies on each of them as we make changes. Because all of our key issues are deeply interconnected, decision making must be deliberately conscious of all impacts, looking forward to prevent damaging unintended consequences.
Jim Thompson, the founder of a national non-profit aimed at improving the culture of youth sports in our country has written several publications surrounding culture development and communication.

As a Stanford business professor, he developed an understanding of communication style and mindset training that feeds positive development in organizations. While he has channeled that energy into a youth-oriented non-profit, his writings also address how the strategies apply in larger organizations as well.

Thompson's approach to management is one of empowerment, support and encouragement. His philosophy allows leaders to effectively critique and evaluate people and projects in a way that does not create an environment of distrust. In a political organization where there are multiple competing interests, his leadership style and tools make great sense and encourage growth. Eliminating fear of failure from staff in the execution of their work fosters productivity and encourages creative problem solving.
Above all else, an elected official must have integrity and humility.

Integrity implies trust and is the building block upon which all relationships are developed. Humility follows integrity in that it allows a person to come from a place of learning and listening as opposed to assuming that they have all the answers. No one-person has all the answers to the issues facing our community.

The other principle that must be held in order for there to be success is communication. Maintaining clear, effective and inclusive communication channels is critical to good governance. Public leaders must assure that they provide forums which are accessible to the public and affirmatively reach out to potentially underserved populations to assure that input is being received from all parties.
I hope to bring an ability to generate conversation amongst a diverse portion of our population to the office. In my work and in my activities with service organizations in our county, I have strived to resolve issues and advance progress by seeking common ground between diverse parties.

Accomplishing this requires interpersonal skills, but also the ability to clearly identify obstacles and opportunities surrounding any given task or project. I pride myself on deeply researching and teasing out the nuance of issues as I develop and plan. Effective governance requires that same level of understanding.
The core responsibility of the San Juan County Council is to clearly identify the needs of the County and make the often difficult decisions required to determine how to balance the various needs with the available resources. In order to do this, the Council must build and maintain a network within the community and staff as well as maintaining a network outside the community with possible stakeholders.

As Council representatives, leadership is required to direct and set goals for the County staff as well as assure that they are provided with the proper resources necessary to meet those goals.
The first historical event in my life that I have a functional memory of was the eruption of Mt. St. Helens on May 18 1980. at the time I was 5 years old.

as a family, we were on a camping trip approximately due-west of the mountain and I remember sitting around the camp fire believing that it was snowing. In a time when there was social media and in a place where we had no power, I remember my dad turning on the transistor radio to get information about what was happening and where.

We had family at the time living east of the mountains and I distinctly remember them being very adversely affected by the ash plume.
Without question, government operations must be fully transparent and accountable to the public. This goes well beyond simple financial transparency.

Adherence to the Open Public Meetings Act and Public Records act are hallmarks of good governance in our state. In my service work at the governmental level in our community I have strived to always place transparency to the public as a key priority.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

See also


External links

Footnotes