Issue statement from Brier Council incumbent Steele
Published 2:12 pm Friday, October 16, 2015
Brier City Council incumbent Kerin Steele recently sent a statement about what she thinks are the most important issues in this year’s election.
Steele will meet challenger Tony Corrado on the Nov. 3 ballot. The position is one of four Brier Council positions on the general-election ballot. Corrado has not sent a statement.
Here is Steele’s statement:
Brier City Council, Position #4
Tony Corrado: No statement
Kerin Steele: Major Issue in Brier
The challenge in Brier is maintaining our community values of larger lot sizes, a peaceful, quiet environment, horses and wildlife and our “Safest City” rating. These values make Brier a great place to live but keeping them requires a difficult balancing act.
The pressures of state and federal regulations and unfunded mandates are placing a lot of stress on city budgets. Those unfunded mandates — state and federal requirements imposed on cities without providing the funding to comply with those requirements -– are usually complex, unexpected and unbudgeted.
At the same time, the state has retained much of the funds that used to be shared with the cities, effectively cutting city revenues. Costs of fire services, medical care, employees, road maintenance, building maintenance, and all the other city expenses continue to rise.
Brier’s major issue is remaining sustainable: able to maintain a balanced budget while providing the city services necessary for Brier residents.
Kerin Steele
Brier City Council
Position #4
206-250-4276
Evan Smith can be reached at schsmith@frontier.com.
