Four vie for two seats on Mill Creek council

MILL CREEK — Four candidates are vying for two open seats on the City Council to oversee the young but quickly-growing community.

Running the city has been rocky at times. The council faced public backlash after it forced former city manager Ken Armstrong to resign in January, continuing a pattern of ousting administrators since Mill Creek’s incorporation in 1983.

Now, the new city manager, Rebecca Polizzotto, is leading the city. The council recently approved her plans to reorganize how work is done by staff and make more room at the cramped City Hall. She intends to move the public works shop and have a developer provide space for a senior center and a satellite office for the police department. The changes are supposed to come at little cost to taxpayers.

Three spots on the council are up for election Nov. 3 but only two are contested. Longtime Councilman Mike Todd is running unopposed for Position 6.

Councilman Mark Bond is vying for Position 7 against Douglas Carlson, who has never held elected office.

Bond, a deputy with the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office, is finishing his third term. The 47-year-old aims to improve social problems he sees while patrolling, such as homelessness, addiction and mental illness. He’s a board member at Evergreen Manor, a substance-abuse recovery center in Everett.

Carlson, who until 2012 worked as laboratory chemist, has previously run and sought appointment to the council unsuccessfully. He refused to give his age for “a variety personal reasons” but appears to be in his late-thirties.

Carlson and Bond have very different ideas about how to run Mill Creek.

Bond has fought against the city implementing a utility tax while Carlson supports it to encourage people to conserve resources.

Carlson wants to outfit City Hall to run on solar and wind power. He does not support the city opening a second police station because the officers would be using cars instead of bicycles.

Meanwhile, Bond supports the extra police precinct. He welcomes the direction the city manager is taking, especially after having contention on council under previous leaders.

Both candidates prioritize balancing the budget.

Bond sees increasing sales tax revenue by bringing more businesses to the city and successfully negotiating a new contract for fire protection as critical to solving the deficit.

Carlson said he would support ideas brought forth by the city’s economic development committee.

While Carlson and Bond offer different thoughts on the direction the city should take, the other two candidates have many similar ideas.

Councilman Vincent Cavaleri is facing opposition for Position 5 from Lynn Sordel. Both men have served on the council but neither have been elected to it.

Cavaleri, a Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office deputy and U.S. Army veteran, was appointed to the council in January to fill a vacated seat. The 59-year-old ran unsuccessfully in 2009.

Sordel, who as the city of Lynnwood’s director of parks, recreation and cultural arts oversees a $13 million budget, was in 2012 appointed to the council but lost election to the seat in 2013. The 64-year-old said he wants to use his 30 years of experience working for cities and counties to benefit Mill Creek.

Cavaleri and Sordel both said they support the city manager’s ideas. With little remaining developable land in Mill Creek, they agree that the city needs a plan to redevelop properties and attract the right kind of new businesses to bring in money.

Cavaleri said the city is heading in the right direction to balance its budget while Sordel wants to see Mill Creek using a six-year financial forecast to avoid having costs outweigh revenue, as is the case now.

Cavaleri has experience as a union negotiator and has served on the city Parks and Recreation Board. His priorities include encouraging economic development by making the city more attractive with business-friendly rules and infrastructure.

Sordel serves as president of the Lynnwood Parks and Recreation Foundation and been involved in transportation planning. He said he can use that experience to bring in money for Mill Creek projects, such as putting in a synthetic turf sports field at Jackson High School, and guide the city in improving traffic and accommodating growth.

Amy Nile: 425-339-3192; anile@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @AmyNileReports

Meet the candidates

POSITION 5

Vincent Cavaleri

Age: 50*

Occupation: Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office corrections officer

Website: cavaleri4council.us

Lynn Sordel

Age: 64

Occupation: Director of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts, city of Lynnwood

Website: not available but email lynndsordel@frontier.com

Position 7