Issue statements from Edmonds Council candidates Petso and Tibbott

Published 10:32 am Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Edmonds City Council candidates Lora Petso and Neil Tibbott recently sent statements about what they think is or are the most important issue or issues in this year’s election.

Tibbott is challenging incumbent Petso on the Nov. 3 general-election ballot.

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

Here are Petso’s and Tibbott’s statements, in the order that the candidates’ names will appear on the November ballot and in the voters’ pamphlet:

Edmonds City Council Position #7

Lora Petso: It has been an honor to serve nine years on the Edmonds City Council.

Key issues facing the city over the next few years include long-range financial planning and public safety. We need to arrange emergency access to the waterfront, and Fire District 1 has asked that we make some changes to our contract. My experience, including 20 years dealing with public finance and service as the City’s senior representative to the Regional Fire Authority, will be helpful in dealing with these issues.

As always, we face ongoing challenges to our building-height limits. I will continue to support our building-height limits.

Neil Tibbott: Important issues:

The ability to work together. I am confident that if we come to the table prepared and willing to work together, we can solve difficult challenges like:

• Sustainable funding of essential services and ongoing maintenance of infrastructure through primarily growing our tax base rather than increasing property taxes on current residents.
• Accommodating growth and needed housing choices while maintaining and improving the character of all neighborhoods, not just downtown and the waterfront.
• Emergency access to the waterfront.

Unfortunately, some members of the current City Council create an atmosphere of contention rather than collaboration. There has been so much rancor over the past few years … and after three finance directors resigned, the Council had to hire two facilitators to help Councilmembers learn how to get along and work together; the cost to taxpayers was more than $15,000.

Council members are elected to represent “the people.” The challenge is that they rarely speak with one voice. Conflict is inevitable. Problems come up. Our job is to listen to stakeholders, identify the problem(s) we’re trying to solve, conduct a fair, deliberative process and try to reach decisions that are fact-based and supported by a majority of citizens.

I am committed to working through the issues with others in order to find solutions that, quoting a colleague, “help the most people for the least cost in the long term.”

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