Here is a quick update out of Tacoma, Washington, where progressive Asian American Marilyn Strickland, a member of the city council, is running for mayor. It seems her opponent, Jim Merritt has recently had to remove a couple of names from his endorsement list.

Another name is removed from Jim Merritt's endorsers list

Posted by Peter Callaghan @ 09:40:43 am

This time it is developer Grace Pleasants.

But unlike last week's story about Pierce County Executive Pat McCarthy withdrawing her support for Tacoma mayor candidate Jim Merritt, Pleasants says she never agreed to be listed.

"He's a very nice man," Pleasants said of Merritt. But she said she prefers Tacoma Councilwoman Marilyn Strickland for mayor. Pleasants has even agreed to co-host a fundraising event for Stickland with Blaine Johnson. The event is set for Thursday at 5 p.m. at the Traver Gallery in the Albers Mill building.

Merritt's campaign manager Ronnie Bush said Merritt thought he had gotten Pleasant's permission to list her among his supporters back in January. She said the campaign was surprised when it saw the announcement of the fundraiser for Strickland.

The progressive AAPI's I know in Washington are all excited about Marilyn.  Here's a little refresher on her bio:

The daughter of a soldier and an immigrant, Marilyn was born in Seoul, Korea.Her family moved to Tacoma in 1967 when her father was stationed at Fort Lewis. Marilyn grew up in South Tacoma and attended school at Edison, Gray and Mount Tahoma. An urban pioneer, Marilyn has lived downtown for more than a decade. She has also lived in Seattle, Portland, Atlanta and has traveled to Europe, the Caribbean, Latin America and Asia.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

Marilyn earned her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Washington, where she majored in Sociology and spent a semester in London as an exchange student. She later earned an MBA from Clark-Atlanta University.

From a Fortune 500 company to local government, Marilyn has a broad range of professional experience in both the private and public sectors. She has held management positions with Starbucks Coffee Company, JayRay Communications and the Tacoma Public Library. She recently served as Interim Director of Marketing & Communications for Bates Technical College.

A DEDICATED PUBLIC SERVANT

As a member of the Tacoma City Council, Marilyn is respected as a thoughtful and decisive leader. She serves as Vice-Chair of the Public Safety, Human Services & Education Committee, and is a member of the Government Performance and Finance Committee. She also represents the city on the board of Safe Streets and the Pierce County Regional Council.

Some of her accomplishments as an elected official include adding education to the scope of the Public Safety and Human Services Committee; advocating for a farmer’s market in the South Tacoma business district; traveling to Gunsan, Korea to represent the City of Tacoma; working with federal legislators to secure funding for local infrastructure projects; working with state legislators to promote economic development policies; and sponsoring legislation to support the Boys & Girls Clubs Regional Center, the William Factory Small Business Incubator and gang prevention programs.