The following is a release from the Claudia Balducci campaign:

Bellevue Mayor and candidate for King County Council, Position 6, received the top rating of “Outstanding” from the Municipal League of King County this week. According to the Muni League, the rating was given because Balducci, “Has made numerous outstanding contributions requiring skills related to the office, is a path-finding and respected leader, brings knowledge and creativity to issues facing the office.”

The Municipal League, which works to promote government that is open, effective and accountable, and to improve the caliber of public officials and the quality of public decisions, rates candidates in contested elections.

“I am proud to have the Muni League recognize my consistent service with an‘Outstanding’ rating in every race they have rated after I first began serving as a local elected official in 2004,” Balducci said.  “It is an honor to have them continue to value my effectiveness, knowledge, involvement and character in Bellevue, and now for King County Council.”

A Sound Transit Board member and former director of the King County Jails, Balducci has also been a leader in building regional relationships, serving as the Chair of the four-county Puget Sound Regional Council’s Transportation Policy Board, and helping to build closer relationships among the cities of the eastside to improve services for all eastside residents.

Balducci has been endorsed by Congressman Adam Smith, State Senator Cyrus Habib, State Rep. Ross Hunter, State Rep. and former Mercer Island Councilmember Tana Senn, State Rep. Judy Clibborn, and former State Rep. Marcie Maxwell, among many others.

Balducci lives in the Lake Hills neighborhood with her husband and 9 year-old son, a student at Puesta Del Sol Elementary School. In addition to the Bellevue City Council and Sound Transit, she has served on the boards of the Puget Sound Regional Council, Eastside Transportation Partnership, Bellevue’s Wraparound Services Program, and Youth Link.