Rodriguez is confident record will speak for itself

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is part of an ongoing series of profiles of candidates running for Yakima City Council.

Sonia Rodriguez shakes her head at the critics.

The 35-year-old family law attorney running to keep the Yakima City Council seat to which she was appointed has a philosophy degree and a law degree from the University of Washington. She also owns her own legal firm, served on the board of the Yakima YWCA and chaired a state Bar Association pre-law leadership conference.

Still, the business-interest endorsement group Forward Yakima Initiative not only declined to endorse Rodriguez, it declined to endorse Councilman Micah Cawley in part because he was among the council members who appointed her. They say she's too timid, too quiet with her opinions, a charge no one would level at her opponent, KIT-AM radio host Dave Ettl.

"Part of the problem we had with her was her leadership background," FYI Chairman Mark Peterson says. "She just does not come across as a very confident person, in her body language and her answers."

Supporters say she simply has a quieter style of leadership. She doesn't want to stand up, guns blazing and take over council meetings; she'd rather work thoughtfully and diplomatically.

"I really admired her for not making rash decisions," says former Councilman Neil McClure, who served briefly with Rodriguez and has donated to her campaign. "She really studies the issues. She doesn't shoot from the hip. She doesn't mouth off."

It's a tough issue for Rodriguez. She says nobody should vote for or against her based on her ethnicity but, at the same time, she's proud to have broken the council's glass ceiling for Latinos and wants to be a role model for Latino kids.

"Would I have been able to accomplish so much in my life if I was intimidated easily?" she says.

"I'm not a token by any means. I have worked hard to succeed and certainly nothing has been given to me because of my ethnic background."

Originally from Gig Harbor, Wash., the recently remarried Rodriguez came to the Yakima Valley in 2000 and has stayed here in part to keep her daughter, now 13, close to the girl's father, who lives in Grandview. Rodriguez also likes the idea of working in a place where her legal help can make a tangible difference.

"I wanted the challenge of working over here -- the Indian reservation, the Latino community," she says. "When I got out of school, I had this save-the-world mentality."

More realist than idealist these days -- she no longer believes all gang members can be rehabilitated, for instance -- Rodriguez continues to work toward social justice through her profession and her work with the council.

In recent months she made news with a call for a council ethics policy and police emphasis patrols in neighborhoods where gang activity spiked this summer.

"She was the point person, saying, 'Hey what can we do about (gangs)?' " McClure says.

Even those efforts have failed to silence the critics, who contend her public stances on high-profile issues such as council ethics and gang violence have been politically motivated. She wonders what they would have had her do.

"I've been in this race since April," she says. "Does that mean I have to stop doing things in the best interest of the city?"

Critics say her appointment to the Yakima City Council was based not on qualifications but on a desire to have a Latino council member in a town that's 38 percent Latino. She was one of more than two dozen candidates who applied for the seat after former Councilman Norm Johnson was elected to the Legislature.

"This was basically an appointment that filled a couple of slots -- from the minority standpoint and from the woman standpoint," Peterson says.

The question, given her showing in the August primary, is whether Rodriguez will be in a position to act on the city's behalf at all after this election. Ettl took 48 percent to Rodriguez's 37 percent.

Rodriguez has beaten him at fundraising, collecting more than $23,000, according to the state Public Disclosure Commission. But to win in November, Rodriguez will need to get almost all of the votes that went to third-place primary finisher Sharon Madson, who is now a Rodriguez supporter.

She's been knocking on doors and her radio ads are already on the air, soon to be joined by television ads. But really, Rodriguez says, all voters need to do is look past the critics and examine her record over her 10 months on the council.

"That speaks for itself," she says.

Name: Sonia Rodriguez

Age: 35

Occupation: Family law attorney, owner of Morales-Rodriguez law firm in Yakima.

Previously held elected office: Yakima City Council, January to present.

Education: Bachelor's degree in philosophy, law degree from University of Washington.

Q. How would you tackle the $4 million deficit in the 2010 budget? Across the board cuts? What services could be trimmed?

A. Cuts can't be across the board. Savings must be found. Police and fire must not be cut. Funding of outside agencies should be examined.

Q. Should Sam Granato remain as police chief? Why or why not?

A. This is the city manager's decision by law, not mine. Granato has been good for the city. Crime is down. But obviously there are some issues.

Q. Should there be random drug testing of police officers? Why or why not?

A. There should be, for the sake of public safety. But I can understand how police feel singled out on this issue.

Q. Should the Fire Department provide paramedic services?

A. If we have the licenses and we have people trained to be paramedics, it doesn't make much sense not to use those skills.

Q. Should the city charter be changed to allow a strong mayor form of government, or should we continue under the current council-manager form of government?

A. The current form of government is working. We do have a very experienced city manager, and his expertise cannot be taken lightly.

* Pat Muir can be reached at 509-577-7693 or pmuir@yakimaherald.com.

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