Slovakia RPCV Jennifer Hayes joins editorial board of the Olympian
Our Views: Pair join edit board
Portland, Oregon - Join us in welcoming Dave Brown and Jennifer Hayes, the two community representatives on The Olympian's editorial board.
Ten years ago, we began inviting a South Sound resident to join us in shaping the editorial position of the newspaper. The program proved so popular that we added a second community member to the board seven years ago.
Community representatives join Publisher Robert W. Ritter, Executive Editor Vickie Kilgore and Editorial Page Editor Mike Oakland.
Brown is administrator of the Disability Reasonable Accommodation Unit within the Department of Social and Health Services. He holds a bachelor's degree in psychology and a master's degree in public administration, both from the University of Washington. "Disability rights is my particular passion, and I have worked for more than 20 years to implement disability laws in a range of public programs," Brown said.
Over the course of those 20 years, Brown has served as an adviser on disability issues to Govs. Gary Locke and Mike Lowry. He has coordinated statewide ADA training at the Department of Personnel and served in similar capacities at the Department of General Administration and Central Washington University in Ellensburg.
"I have many years' training and experience in public policy and am very interested in learning more about local issues," Brown said. "Most recently, my guide dog (Gilmore) and I participated in the campaign to win voter approval of additional sales tax funds for Intercity Transit."
Hayes is a land-use planner with Thurston County, a position she has held for the last three years. She currently works a reduced schedule to care for her infant son. Hayes holds a pair of master's degrees from the University of Michigan, one in urban planning and the other in natural resource management. Her bachelor's degree in environmental studies was earned at the University of California at Santa Cruz. Hayes served in the Peace Corps from 1995 until 1997 in Slovakia.
She looks forward to her four-month stint on the editorial board, seeing it as an opportunity to better understand the media's role in the local political process. "Although understanding of world events is important, I believe that our lives are sometimes most profoundly affected by the smaller, everyday decisions of our local elected and appointed officials and the issues that impact our South Sound community -- the landfill, asphalt plants, waste cleanups, elections, downtown business concerns, urban growth and development and school funding," she said. "The Olympian is a catalyst for dialogue about these issues and increases citizen participation in the political process."
As members of the editorial board, Hayes and Brown will review and comment on draft editorials before they are published, suggest editorial topics and interview guests who appear before the board. They also will participate in the endorsement process, helping to decide which candidates for local office will receive the newspaper's endorsement. South Sound residents interested in serving on the editorial board in the future should send a self-nomination to Editorial Board, The Olympian, P.O. Box 1219, Olympia, WA 98507. Fax it to 360-357-0202 or send an e-mail self-nomination to news@theolympian.com.
