Budget statements from Edmonds Council candidates Crank and Teitzel

Edmonds City Council candidates Alicia Crank and Dave Teitzel recently sent statements about their approach to writing or considering a city budget.

Crank and Teitzel are running in the Nov. 3 general election for the position that Councilwoman Joan Bloom is giving up after one four-year term.

The position is one of five Edmonds Council positions on the November ballot.

Here are Crank’s and Teitzel’s statements, in the order their names will appear on the ballot and in the voters’ pamphlet:

Edmonds City Council Position #5

Alicia Crank: City government can’t operate without the trust of the people it serves. That’s just common sense. Transparency and accountability are vital for public trust. As a candidate, I’ve been holding public chats where people are invited to just drop in and talk about issues they care about. I’d like to continue that program as a member of the Council. All too often the conversation stops once the election ends. I will keep the conversation going.

Public safety and infrastructure are my top two priorities. In any budget, we have to make sure fiscal responsibility is maintained. I will not support any budget that includes expenses I feel are not in the best interest of Edmonds, nor will I support raising taxes unless there is absolutely no other way to fund a priority. The city needs to be fully audited often.

I will call for performance-based audits and not include any budget item without justification.

There have been controversial budget items in the past. Staff expenses have been questioned, performance has been an issue, and taxpayers haven’t always felt they’ve been getting our best. That situation has improved in recent years, but there is more to be done. I look forward to working with the Mayor, my future colleagues on the Council and the public to approve a transparent, fiscally responsible budget that works for Edmonds.

Dave Teitzel: I believe City Council should focus on ensuring Edmonds’ limited budget dollars are allocated according to priorities established in the Comprehensive and Strategic Action Plans (both of which were developed with direct citizen input). In some instances, budget money is being allocated to lower priority items for which the city has received grants requiring a contribution from our budget. While grants can be beneficial, they can also undermine proper allocation of city resources and we need to be cautious about seeking and accepting grant dollars that may not align well with our key strategies. In addition, we should focus on tightly managing expenses while seeking new sources of city tax revenue. Edmonds is heavily reliant on tax revenue associated with car sales and restaurant receipts, which places the tax revenue stream (and budget) at risk when the next economic downturn occurs and customers stop purchasing cars and dining out. We need to encourage economic development which further diversifies the mix of businesses in Edmonds to generate new tax revenue that can maintain the health of our city budget, enabling Edmonds to continue to provide high-quality infrastructure and services our citizens demand.

Evan Smith can be reached at schsmith@frontier.com.