About the author

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bob Hegamin, over the years, has been a vocal critic of the elected officials of Seattle, Washington. As an employee of Seattle City Light, he started his political activism by testifying before the City Council in attempts to prevent unwarranted and unjustified City Light rate increases. In addition, he had - with others - prepared statements on bond and levy measures for voter pamphlets to alert voters to the uncontrolled spending of their elected officials.

Bob ran for the Mayor's office as well as for a seat on the Seattle City Council on many occasions. His experiences confirmed the fact that the governance of Seattle is typical of what’s taking place in other cities across the country and a microcosm of the nation, in general.

Most officials won't talk about their stand on issues, and most critics offer little to challenge the status quo. This leaves the “people” with few legitimate and viable options to choose from or support. Bob hopes his opinions in this booklet will add to information most have on issues, and help put them, whether at the local or national level, into perspective.

Bob Hegamin was born in Shanghai, China, in 1926. As an American child growing up in a multicultural and cosmopolitan city, he was exposed to the governing styles of Great Britain, France, Japan and China.

After the outbreak of World War II, Bob was interned in Shanghai from February 1943 to the end of the war in August 1945. He spent most of his teenage years in the Chapei Civilian Assembly Center in Shanghai, where he learned to interact with his fellow American, British, Dutch and Belgian internees as well as with his Japanese guards.

Bob arrived in the U.S. in November 1945 and in 1948, enlisted in the U.S. Air Force. During the Korean War, he was assigned to Goose Bay, Labrador and subsequently to one of its detachments in the Arctic. He ended his enlistment in November, 1952 at Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert.

In 1953, Bob used his GI Bill at Columbia University, where he completed his pre-engineering courses. He subsequently graduated from Seattle University in 1966 with Bachelor of Science degrees in Electrical Engineering and General Science.

Among some of his community activities, Bob served as a member on the Washington State Board for Community College Education (1977 - 1979) and the King County Personnel Board (1990 - 1994).