Reelect Toyer

Published 4:17 pm Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Marysville, with a population of about 65,000, is one of the county’s more quickly growing cities, and that growth brings with it issues of transportation, economic development and provisions for public safety, parks and more.

Where many of the county’s cities have two or more contested races for city offices, only one Marysville City Council race drew two opponents. Mayor Jon Nehring is running unopposed, as are Stephen Muller for Position 6 and Kamille Norton for Position 7. Also on the ballot for Marysville voters is an advisory vote on whether the council should prohibit the possession, sale and use of fireworks within the city limits.

Council Position 5: Incumbent Rob Toyer, who is completing his first term on the city council is being challenged by Clarence Shaw.

Shaw is a relative newcomer to Marysville, moving there four years ago, but he has a long resume of service at multiple levels of government, including two terms on the city council in Monrovia, California, and a term on that community’s school board. Now retired from the U.S. Army reserves, Shaw had been deployed to the Marysville area in 2011, but didn’t officially resign his Monrovia city council seat until 2013.

Shaw, retiring as a major in the Army reserves after 25 years, including service during the Iraq War, provided legal and budget analysis in the service. More recently he has worked as a financial services specialist with the state of Washington. He also currently serves on the Snohomish County Solid Waste Advisory Committee.

Toyer, also an Iraq War veteran who served in the U.S. Marines, is a lifelong resident of Marysville. He served a year on the city’s planning commission before he was elected to the council in 2011. Toyer owns a small business offering financial management services.

Shaw said he isn’t running against Toyer as much as offering Marysville voters a choice and new perspective on the council. Shaw said his focus on the council would be on improving traffic flow on city streets, helping to develop pedestrian-friendly areas for shopping and dining and encouraging a greater economic presence for the city that would promote jobs and offer more retail choices. Shaw also wants to strengthen relationships between the city and school district.

Toyer said his priorities in his next term would be downtown revitalization; public safety; transportation improvements, including projects that would address the traffic jams at at-grade railroad crossings and finding a solution to the city’s need to use a Des Moines jail for overflow from its own jail.

During his first term Toyer was supportive of the city’s decision to create a transportation benefit district, the city’s parks projects and talks to pursue a regional fire authority, although that process now appears to be on hold.

Both have admirable records of service to their country and their communities. Shaw has much to offer Marysville, but Toyer has shown himself to be an effective, thoughtful member of the council and merits a second term.