My thanks go to the staff of the Kirkland Reporter for the brave reporting in last week’s article regarding (now former) Councilman Bob Sternoff’s financial issues.

Clearly this job took a great deal of time and effort, and the residents of Kirkland are better off because of it – better off because we now know that there is a voice out there that will not tolerate misdeeds and disrespect on the part of our officials.

In the past I have felt that the Reporter looked at people, events and situations in a shallow way, not really digging deeply into what was behind the apparent facts and happenings. The result was incomplete reporting of events – muddled “news.”

With the Sternoff piece the Reporter did a bang-up job of investigative reporting. They have facts, a logical presentation and sufficient content to tell the story. Kudos to editor Carrie Rodriguez, reporter Raechel Dawson and assistant editor Matt Phelps.

I hope that the Reporter’s new outlook will give residents of Kirkland a fighting chance to have our voices heard by a broader audience when we have issues or concerns that aren’t gaining any traction with our officials. Keep it up, Kirkland Reporter!

I also urge anyone who has the temperament and an interest in the position of council member to consider tossing her/his hat into the ring.

Jim McElwee, Kirkland