Claudia Riiff Finseth is a writer, poet and editor; mother and grandmother; and life-long Washingtonian. Growing up in Longview, Finseth absorbed the values of civic planning, including trees, sidewalks, neighborhood parks and civic spaces, and open space where people can experience the renewing and healing effects of nature and native wildlife.
She came to Pierce County to attend Pacific Lutheran University, and has since made Parkland her home.
She brought her sensibilities and values with her when she helped to write the Parkland-Spanaway-Midland Communities Plan, made law in 2002, which lays out a vision for a thriving, livable community. Among other things, the Plan endeavors to protect the lakes, marshes, and waterways of the area. Finseth went on to serve on the PSM Land Use Advisory Commission (LUAC) and then the Pierce County Planning Commission.
Her main concern now is seeing that the government of Pierce County is restored to a vital democracy. That includes listening to its constituents, adhering to the rule of law, and making preserving and restoring our beautiful environment a priority for our quality of life. She writes on these issues for the Tacoma News Tribune, the Suburban Times, the Pierce Prairie Post, and the Environmental Coalition of Pierce County’s website.
Finseth was once kissed by an orca (she fell in love), climbed Mt. St. Helens when it was a sleepy, snowy summit, and enjoys sitting by her Dragonfly Pond on Spanaway Creek with family and friends and dog, listening to stories brought on the wind by otter, eagle, osprey and dragonfly.”