About April

Chris and April's roots run deep in this area, both having been born and raised here. They know that no one needs to make this a great place to live and raise a family - it already is! In their lives, everything has been a partnership, and they have had many adventures along the way. Even politics is a family endeavor, as April and Chris have worked as a team doorbelling and campaigning together in every election. Their passion to serve people in their community is a centerpiece of their lives.

April Hurst

Meet the family

Chris and April have always felt that their relationship has been a special one, and over the years have worked together through the times of their lives. When they were first married many years ago, they worked hard for low wages, and remembered looking on the floor of their pickup truck for change to get enough money together to see a movie on a Friday night. But through thick and thin, material things had little allure for them in comparison to adventures together, and working as a team to face the challenges of life.

Years ago, Chris was in police work and flight instructing on the side as part of his college studies, and was considering a career in aviation. Chris never made the switch from police work to flying full time as he felt that his calling, after some years, was public service. But Chris and April would grab a couple of friends, rent a plane, split the expenses and fly for a weekend to California. After the eruption of Mt St Helens, the Hurst's frequently took people on trips there. Everyone wanted to go and see it up close.

Chris and April have always liked travel and adventure. That, combined with their love of the outdoors and hiking and climbing in the mountains, led to many great experiences. Chris has summated Mt Rainier numerous times and in 2005, Chris and April traveled to Tanzania, East Africa, to climb to the summit of Mt Kilimanjaro together. Kilimanjaro, at 19,340 feet above sea level was the high point of their mountain adventures. They returned to summit Kilimanjaro from a different route in July of 2009.

As Chris took off on a career in police work and politics, April fulfilled her lifelong dream of working with people and animals and is the owner of April's Pet Salon in Enumclaw. She has gotten to know members of the community and their pets for 30 years as an animal groomer. Chris always said that he thought that police work was a lot safer than giving a bath to a cat, but April has a magic touch with animals and has only been bitten twice in all of those years!

April Hurst, at her Pet Salon in downtown Enumclaw

Another great adventure that they went on together was in July of 1983, when they decided to spend almost a year on the North Slope of Alaska. The idea was to see some of Alaska and its vast wilderness before they began raising a family. Chris and April moved to Barrow, Alaska, where Chris became a police officer and April went to work for the public schools in one of the wildest places on the planet. Working on the North Slope and its nine towns was no easy task. Aside from having a very high violent crime and murder rate, it got really cold in the winter. They both remembered being sent to the town of Kaktovik on December 20, 1983. Kaktovik is on Barter Island, about 40 miles west of the Canadian border in the Arctic Ocean. The work was difficult and the sun never rose in the winter because of being so far above the Arctic Circle. Some days the temperature would be -60 degrees with a 60 MPH wind resulting in a wind chill temperature of 120 degrees below zero! A violent crime rate and equally violent weather would put most relationships to the test. But Chris and April felt that, as always, they were a great team for any challenge. When the sun came up in the spring, they returned to their home in Enumclaw and their son Andrew was born in September 1984, and new adventures of a different kind began.

The passion and energy that Chris and April have always felt in everything they have done in their lives was easily transferred into politics, where they both feel that their effort to serve others is deeply rewarding on a personal level. In 2006, they visited an astonishing 15,000 homes (roughly 36,000 voters) to talk with their fellow citizens about the campaign, and listen to what people had to share about their lives and expectations of their government. Chris feels that the most important job of an elected official is to listen to people. Without this, citizens have no real ability to share ideas, dreams or to redress grievances that they have with how their democracy is working. Chris and April list their home phone so people can call them anytime with issues, something almost no elected official does anywhere. And just in case you don't have it - 360-663-2608.

They are also both avid SCUBA divers and enjoy the underwater world. They both feel a special connection to the outdoors, along with each other.

Chris, April, and Tanzania

Scuba Diving in Maui

The last hike before election day.

The final picture on this page was taken by April on November 5, 2006, just before the general election in that year. It had been a long, hard campaign that summer and only a couple of days before the election, Chris and April were tired, and it was pouring down rain. They decided to take a break that morning and hiked up to Upper Crystal Lake in the snow. With no one around, they took a few moments to reflect on their lives, the campaign, and remember that perspective in life is everything.