Candidates: City needs hearing aid

Published 9:00 pm Monday, August 27, 2001

By Brian Kelly

Herald Writer

ARLINGTON — City Hall needs a lesson in listening.

At least that’s the oft-repeated charge of candidates seeking one of two positions on the Arlington City Council.

Three positions are up for grabs this year, and two council seats will have a winnowing during the Sept. 18 primary.

For Position 1, incumbent Councilman Craig Hedlund is facing a challenge from Steve Baker and Kevin Kinney.

For Position 2, political newcomers Vincent Danner and Ryan Larsen are running against former Arlington School Board member Marvin Monty.

Bea Randall, the council member currently in Position 2, decided against re-election.

Kinney, and others seeking office, said the city’s leaders aren’t listening to the locals on growth, downtown revitalization and other issues.

"I don’t believe the people of Arlington are being heard," Kinney said. "I think some council members have their own agenda, and that’s what they’re trying to move along, rather than what the people of Arlington want."

It’s the first shot at elected office for Baker and Kinney.

"It’s been a dream and aspiration to run for some kind of city office, since I was a kid," said Kinney, a lifelong Arlington resident.

Kinney said the city needs to notice the newcomers. Residents of the Smokey Point area, a 600-acre-plus area that was annexed into Arlington in 1999, feel they are’t well represented at City Hall.

Others share similar sentiments.

"I don’t feel they’re very well represented in town," Baker said. "There’s a real bad feeling because they were taken over. They didn’t want to be annexed, and they were annexed anyway."

Smokey Point residents have told him the only thing they’ve gotten out of the annexation to Arlington is some decorative hanging flower baskets.

But Baker added that residents of older, established neighborhoods in town have also felt left out of the loop. He pointed to the controversial reconstruction of Division Street, and the $3 million proposal to renovate the town’s main drag, Olympic Avenue.

"Trial and error is not a way to build roads," Baker said.

The Olympic plan should be put before voters before the city starts the renovation project, he said. "If the voters want it, that’s fine," Baker said.

Hedlund, the incumbent, said he was optimistic that Olympic Avenue will be renovated. But he hoped the project would get wide support before it moves forward.

Citizen involvement is important, he stressed, as well as the council’s adherence to its processes, policies and procedures.

"We’ve got to keep open minds, and we need to listen," Hedlund said. "I just think it’s a lot of common sense."

As far as Smokey Point goes, the city has done more than just add cosmetic touches to Arlington’s southern end.

Hedlund pointed out that the area now has a greater police presence than it did prior to the annexation, and the city bought land last year for a park in Smokey Point. The concerns of Smokey Point residents are being considered by the council, he said.

Hedlund said he hopes Arlington voters will give him a second term.

"I want to be able to continue just doing good things to help the community be a place where people can raise children and have a good quality of life," he said.

You can call Herald Writer Brian Kelly at 425-339-3422 or send e-mail to kelly@heraldnet.com.