Candidate Profile: Koshin Fidaar For District 29

SEATTLE — The 2020 election is heating up in Washington and there are plenty of races with candidates eager to serve in elected office. Eyes are primarily focused on the presidential election, but voters will also decide the occupants of several state representative and senate seats.

Patch asked candidates to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles as election day draws near.

Koshin Fidaar, a Tacoma resident is running for State Representative District 29 Position 1.

Age: 34
Party affiliation: Republican Party
Family: Fidaar
Occupation: Entrepreneurs 5 years of experience, Mathematics Teacher in highschool
Previous elected experience: Somali Community Services Coalition
Family members in government: No
Campaign website: www.friendsofkoshin.com

The single most pressing issue facing our state is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

Managing Covid 19 pandemic management and recovery.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

As per my candidate statement before Goerge Floyd’s death, I stated that we need criminal justice reform including systematic policing policy, training and equipment. Unlike my opponent, I believe we should focus the most mitigating issues such as combating poverty, homelessness, Mentally ill, fighting crime/prevention and former inmate reintegration. Significant former inmate reintegration platform will help prevent reoffending, will break the cycle of poverty and save serious money in our state budget. I’ve an excellent interpersonal skills and can work bipartisan group of legislators for the community issue. I believe those oppose my position are not resist, they are good legislators who happen to disagree with me period. I will be the representative treating all the legislators with respect, working hard to earn their respect and cooperation, and practicing active listening to get the work of the people in Olympia.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

US Army Combat engineer for 8 years signing up in time of war and served honorably. As a teen advocate in Seattle, I advocated immigrant children to get intensive education program before placed in regular age group classes, I advised child protective service agency in our state to keep immigrant children with relatives instead of foster homes, protect children by providing culturally sensitive services, and placed shelters and provided counseling for hundreds of victims of domestic violence.
I created a team of highly influential bipartisan current and former US legislators, community leaders, and businesses working pro bono to change the US policy toward Somalia in 2006. This experience will serve me in Olympia to build a winning team to change defective policies, and make moral arguments to deliver results for my community in Olympia.

What steps should state government take to bolster economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic for local businesses?

We must open up the economy responsibly. We can do business in our state while managing the pandemic-wearing a mask, washing hands, keeping distance and protecting our elderly. We need to adopt to the pandemic to limit its effect on our lives.

How will you address the calls for racial justice and police reform?

By bringing together the community and the police to find common grounds. Instituting zero tolerance of police misconduct policy, changing the hiring, firing, and charging police offenders policies. Accountability, the police cannot investigate itself, in the event of police incident involving death or civil right violation, prosecutors working with that department should not be in charge of bringing charges, higher standard of hiring police officers and providing the police the professional resources they need-imbedded mental health professionals and social workers when responding incidents involved to domestic violence, addicts and mentally ill suspects. Most importantly, the police officers’ well-being, training, performance and retention should be the sole responsibility of the department leadership. We should not have a trigger-happy racist in our police force period.

How do you think Washington should address the threat posed by climate change?

We need to seek and encourage international ways to take care of our planet. We alone cannot do it. As Washingtonian, we should do our part to put in place reasonable policies to combat the threat of climate change. It is real, urgent, and devastating our planet.

List other issues that define your campaign platform:

Breaking the cycle of poverty by helping working families build homes for their families. Defer all taxes, licensing fees and inject state resources to ensure working families can build a home in the neighborhoods they live in. I have realistic plan to make working families in our state to build homes for their families. Thus, creating economic windfall for our builders, working families afford to have a home less than the expensively rents they are currently paying, and the state generate more property tax revenue.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

In this difficult time of political tribalism, I am perfect candidate to fight for the poor, the working families, the mentally ill, and former inmates’ reintegration-pledging to never go back to prison. I have the skills of team building. I believe civil rights and fighting poverty should be bipartisan cause. I can make that argument and will bring together all the legislators to join the moral act of fighting poverty, inequality and improve the lives of our citizens.