Issue statement from Al Rutlege, candidate for Edmonds City Council

Published 2:44 pm Thursday, October 15, 2015

Edmonds City Council candidate Al Rutlege recently sent a statement about what he thinks are the most important issues in this year’s election. Incumbent Councilman Mike Nelson did not respond.

The two are running for the last two years of the four-year term that Nelson has held since he won appointment to replace former Councilman Strom Peterson when Peterson joined the state legislature.

The position is one of five Edmonds Council positions on the Nov. 6 general-election ballot.

Edmonds City Council Position #2 (two-year unexpired term):

Al Rutlege

• Issue one concerns the delay in completing an agreement between the City of Edmonds and the Edmonds School District on the use of crumb-rubber-tire infill for the artificial turf at the former Woodway High School campus.
• Issue two concerns the failure of current Edmonds City Council members to observe existing city rules and processes used to maintain decorum at public meetings.
• Issue three concerns the lack of a rigorous vetting process used in the council review of candidate applications to appoint a council member to a vacant seat.
• Issue four concerns the Bike 2 Health project. Currently funded by the Verdant Health Commission as a health and wellness option for bicyclists, I support Mayor Earling’s proposal to help complete the trail with tax dollars.
• Issue five concerns the perception that nothing is being done about the coal transportation problem. The people should be told what the response was to Edmonds Resolution 1280. In 2012 Edmonds passed Resolution No.1280 expressing concern about potential adverse impacts that increased coal traffic would cause and requested a study to that effect. What happened to the study?
• Issue six concerns the possibility of returning City Hall’s business hours to a 9 to 5 from its current 8 to 4:30 schedule.

Mike Nelson: No response