MARYSVILLE — There is one contested race for the Marysville City Council on this year’s ballot, pitting incumbent Councilman Rob Toyer against newcomer Clarence Shaw.
Mayor Jon Nehring and council members Stephen Muller and Kamille Norton are running unopposed for re-election to their respective positions. Marysville School District directors Mariana Maksimos, Pete Lundberg and Tom Albright are also running unopposed for re-election.
Rob Toyer was elected to position 5 on the City Council four years ago after serving a year on the city’s planning commission.
The city, he said, wasn’t in good financial shape four years ago, but that’s since changed.
“We’ve been able to stabilize our finances and really do a lot of economic development in the city,” Toyer said.
The city has opened a new spray park in Comeford Park, begun work on a new trail on the city’s waterfront, enacted a Transportation Benefit District to pay for road repair, and secured $100 million in transportation money from the Legislature.
The next four years will be focused on downtown revitalization, he said, including extending trails to the Qwuloolt Estuary.
Toyer, who sits on the Marysville Fire Board, would still like to pursue a regional fire authority, but those talks stalled earlier this year. It may be that the city pursues a city fire department or that things will be left the way they are, but he still would like to build a larger authority.
“It’s definitely restructuring the fire department,” he said.
Clarence Shaw moved to Marysville four years ago from Monrovia, California, where he served one term on the city council and a partial term on the school board there.
Shaw, who recently retired from the U.S. Army Reserve, said that the city wasn’t as strong economically as it ought to be.
“We don’t have the areas where we can walk and dine and shop. We need that foot traffic to draw revenue downtown,” Shaw said.
“It would be perfect to have an antique district, if you will,” he said, citing the city of Snohomish as an example of a city with a lot of foot traffic.
He said the council should be looking to attract business incubators or perhaps a technical school to Marysville.
The council should be building stronger relationships with the school district as well as helping local businesses, even if it is just to spruce up downtown.
“If you look at our little strip malls, I think we can do a better job in terms of working with our local merchants,” Shaw said.
Residents in Marysville will also be voting on an advisory measure to ban the possession, sale and discharge of fireworks within the city limits. Fireworks are currently legal in the city and under state law, but there were a rash of brush fires over the July 4 weekend and two Marysville residents lost fingers due to fireworks.
Proposition 1, if approved, would recommend the Marysville City Council ban fireworks, although the measure is nonbinding and the results will not change the law.
Chris Winters: 425-374-4165; cwinters@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @Chris_At_Herald.
Rob Toyer
Age: 34
Experience: one term on the City Council, one year on the planning commission, owner of Toyer Wealth Management in Lake Stevens. Also on the board of Marysville-Tulalip Chamber of Commerce, the board of the Marysville Fire District, and is a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve.
Website: robtoyer.com
Funds raised: $1,000 (none spent)
Clarence Shaw
Age: 53
Experience: one term on Monrovia, Calif., city council and one term on Monrovia Unified School Board. Sits on the Snohomish County Solid Waste Advisory Committee, is active in the American Legion in Marysville, and is a retired U.S. Army Reserve Major.
Website: none
No campaign fund raising has been reported.
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