By The Herald Editorial Board
38th Legislative District, House of Representatives
The 38th Legislative District includes parts of the Tulalip Reservation, Marysville and Everett. Rep. June Robinson, a Democrat, is running unopposed for Position 1.
Position 2
Rep. Mike Sells, an Everett Democrat, has served 12 years in the House and is seeking his seventh term. He is challenged by Bert Johnson of Marysville. Johnson is running as an independent, claiming no party affiliation.
Johnson has not run or served in office before. He said he preferred to run as an independent to be able to work with either party. Johnson opposes the express toll lanes on I-405, doubting that they have helped traffic and are gouging drivers. Johnson believes there are opportunities to cut waste within the Department of Transportation.
While wanting to review the issue, he does not believe significant new revenue would be necessary to fund education, but thinks efficiencies could provide some additional funding.
Sells, a retired teacher who worked in the Everett School District from 1967 to 1998, and was president of the Everett local of the teachers union, is now chairman of the Labor and Workforce Development Committee, is vice-chairman on the higher education committee and also has served on the transportation and capital budget committees.
Among legislation that he led, Sells got a budget amendment passed that created the Washington Aerospace Training and Research Center at Paine Field, administered by Edmonds Community College and UW-Bothell. Another recent bill created a bachelor of science nursing program at what is now WSU North Puget Sound at Everett.
Regarding transportation, Sells is hopeful that the county delegation of lawmakers will be able to move up transportation projects in the county as money is freed up when other projects are completed under budget. Sells prefers to wait on the I-405 tolling lanes to determine if they are bringing in enough revenue to make needed improvements on the highway.
On education, the Legislature will have to address levy equalization among districts. He’d like to see a wider tax reforms, but believes to fund education, the elimination of tax loopholes and a capital gains tax should be considered. Sells said he would back, if reintroduced, a bill that would tie Boeing’s tax breaks to job targets.
Sells’ legislative experience and success with legislation important to the district warrants his re-election to a seventh term.
39th District, House of Representatives
The 39th Legislative District covers eastern portions of Skagit, Snohomish and King counties, and includes the cities of Sedro-Woolley, Concrete, Arlington, Darrington, Granite Falls, Monroe, Sultan, Gold Bar, Index and Skykomish. Sen. Kirk Pearson, a Republican, is running unopposed for his seat.
Position 1
Rep. Dan Kristiansen, a Snohomish Republican, has served in the House for 14 years and is seeking his eighth term. Democratic challenger Linda Wright of Marysville previously ran for the seat in 2012. A successful cancer fight kept her from running in 2o14.
Wright has been a small business owner, a school bus driver and is currently a union representative and contract negotiator for the SEIU, work that would help her in working with members of both parties, she said. As a caregiver for family members, she has gained insight into the needs of seniors and the need for reforms to better provide long-term care.
Regarding education funding, Wright said a sustainable source of revenue is necessary. She would consider a capital gains tax on the highest earners but would seek to limit tax increases on working classes.
Kristiansen has served as the Minority Caucus Leader since 2013, serving as the lead negotiator for House Republicans in talks with the governor and other caucus leaders in the House and Senate.
On education funding, Krisitiansen said he supports full funding for education but will want to ensure that spending is invested in classrooms and results in student achievement. He is opposed to a capital gains tax out of concern that it could be used to introduce a broader income tax. Kristiansen said lawmakers will likely consider a hybrid levy swap that would address disparities among school districts, but it would have to be phased in over time.
Kristiansen also is supportive of legislation that would ease regulations on business, specifically permitting that can tie up efforts by business to expand and add jobs. Kristiansen can point to instances where companies have moved projects out of state because of the wait.
As minority leader, Kristiansen said he has asked his caucus members to hold to their convictions but be willing to make compromises to make deals that benefit residents in their district and the state.
Even with a Legislature divided between a Democratic-controlled House and a Republican-led coalition in the Senate, lawmakers have been able to make progress on education, transportation and other issues in recent years.
Kristiansen will be needed to lead his caucus in the coming session.
Position 2
Republican John Koster and Democrat Ronda Metcalf are seeking the seat vacated by Rep. Elizabeth Scott of Monroe.
Koster has a long political resume, serving in the Legislature in the 39th District from 1995 to 2001, then on the Snohomish County Council from 2002 until 2014, when he was term-limited. He then was appointed to the county’s ombudsman’s post, but lost the position at the end of 2014 when the County Council elected not to reappoint him — at the recommendation of then-County Executive John Lovick — after Koster signed his name to an anti-union fundraising letter. Koster has since sued the county, seeking $950,000, claiming his free speech rights were violated.
Koster can be overtly partisan. In previous years that would have been less of an issue, but in the coming session, particularly as the Legislature confronts negotiations on school funding in addition to the two-year operating and capital budgets, cooler heads and a willingness to meet in the middle will have to prevail.
Metcalf, a Darrington resident who is the general manager for the Sauk Suiattle Tribe, has political experience, having served eight years in total on the tribal council. Among her work as general manager she has introduced programs to promote rural health and economic development.
An Army veteran, in 1979 she was among the first women trained as a combat medic. She has previously worked as a corrections officer and a sheriff’s deputy in Multnomah County, Oregon.
Metcalf said she would seek to work on issues related to families and children, elder abuse and opioid addiction, increasing assistance to the district’s rural areas to address those needs.
Tribal politics can be contentious, and Metcalf has been able to build relationships on the Sauk Suiattle council and as its general manager, political skills that should transfer well to the Legislature. Metcalf merits election to the House.
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