Candidates seek open District 1 seat in crowded race

EVERETT — Five people make up the crowded pool of candidates looking to fill the soon-to-be-vacant District 1 seat on the Everett City Council.

They include labor organizer Sam Hem, consultant Mason Rutledge, retiree Steven Sullivan, Village Theatre manager Erica Weir and maintenance worker Bill Wheeler.

Many of the District 1 candidates saw public safety as a top priority in the upcoming election even as crime rates have fallen in recent years, according to local and federal data.

The seat is currently held by Mary Fosse, who will have served one full term by the end of 2025. She also serves as a state representative and announced in April that she would not seek reelection to the council.

The City Council is Everett’s governing body. Council members earn $33,372 per year and serve four-year terms. It is a part-time position.

The District 1 seat is one of five up for grabs this year in Everett. Three will be on the primary ballot.

The primary election is Aug. 5. The top two candidates will advance to the November general election.

Sam Hem

Hem, 49, works as a labor organizer for the local sheet metal workers union.

His top priorities include public safety, affordable housing and workforce development, he said in a June 20 interview.

In regards to public safety, Hem said Everett needs to ensure workers at the police department, fire department and social services are fully equipped to do what they need to do. He said supportive workers like drug and addiction counselors could possibly “do more with less dollars,” but he would seek input from the community because “everybody needs to be on board with it,” he said.

“Connecting community associations, neighborhood groups, and integrating them into the decision-making process with the police and fire seems like a win-win,” Hem said. “Because everyone’s becoming part of the solution and working together.”

On the budget, Hem doesn’t have the answer to the city’s current challenges, he said, but his experience bringing together people is something he sees as an asset toward finding solutions.

“I’m not trying to skirt the issue, but I’m trying to avoid coming in with pre-bias to the budget,” he said.

Hem said the city could use an increase in development throughout Everett as a way to increase its tax revenue, but it needs to be done “in a way that doesn’t chase people out of the city,” he said.

One possibility is implementing incentives for developers to use project labor agreements when building major housing projects in exchange for a larger city investment in infrastructure costs like sewer connections, Hem said. It could allow for provisions like Everett workers being given priority to work on construction projects, he said, increasing the buying power of local workers.

“Out of that deal, we the citizens get a deal. We get the right to work on it,” he said.

Hem also said project labor agreements could be beneficial as a workforce development tool for Everett workers.

To increase housing availability, Hem suggested modeling new projects after Seattle’s recent “Maker’s District” rezoning that allowed for nearly 1,000 apartment units and subsidized work spaces in an industrial neighborhood. That project required a number of units to be set aside as “workforce housing,” with rents set between 60% and 90% of the area median income, The Urbanist reported.

It also drew some flak from Port of Seattle officials due to its close proximity to truck traffic, according to KUOW.

In regards to the city’s proposed multipurpose stadium, Hem said those in favor and opposing it have valid arguments, but he felt it could be a benefit to the community and a new gathering space.

“I think the positives outweigh the negatives because the money’s not coming out of the general fund,” Hem said.

Hem has been endorsed by Fosse, as well as City Council member Paula Rhyne. He has also been endorsed by State Reps. Julio Cortes and Brandy Donaghy, Snohomish County Council member Megan Dunn, the 38th District Democratic Party, the Snohomish County Labor Council and the city’s municipal employees union, among others.

Hem has received nearly $25,000 in campaign contributions as of Friday, state filings show.

Mason Rutledge

Rutledge, 60, is a consultant and real estate investor.

His top priorities include public safety, creating a retail core in District 1, increasing housing availability and balancing the city budget, he said in a June 9 interview.

Feeling unsafe on Everett’s streets is “not acceptable for a city,” Rutledge said. Policies like the city’s controversial “no sit, no lie” laws have helped, he said, but the city needs to work with local businesses to make them more welcoming for customers. His experience working with business leaders, he said, would allow him to connect with different organizations to find ways to address the issue.

“This is kind of the creative partnership we need between business and government to find solutions,” he said. “Rather than the city thinking, well, we’ve got to put a police officer there, or we’ve just got to arrest people.”

Improving the perception of safety, Rutledge said, could also be a path toward improving the city’s budget situation. Rutledge said Proposition 1, a property tax levy lid lift the city proposed last year, was done too quickly and people “just couldn’t get on board,” he said.

To generate more business, he said the city needs a retail core in north Everett to incentivize shoppers not to drive to outlying areas to purchase goods.

“The very thing that could solve the problem is leaving our city,” Rutledge said.

Another balancing measure could be looking at executive staffing, where there are “some underperforming people in positions,” he said.

Regarding housing, Rutledge said the city’s moves toward encouraging the building accessory dwelling units could be a boost to combat the housing crisis. He also said encouraging the concept of a “15-minute city,” where most daily needs are within a 15-minute walk of a person’s home, could be a possible boost to job growth.

Everett should also be “a beacon of hope for anybody looking for first-time housing,” he said. Allowing more options like condominiums, duplexes and townhomes, known as “missing middle” housing options, could be a way to entice that, he said.

Rutledge has been endorsed by City Council members Scott Bader and Ben Zarlingo, the local longshore union and former City Council members Shannon Affholter and Jeff Moore, among others.

He has received over $31,000 in campaign contributions as of Friday, according to state filings.

Steven Sullivan

Sullivan, 68, is retired. He previously worked at an antique shop.

His top priorities include opening a new grocery store downtown, building a detox center and creating a youth center for teens, he said in a July 9 interview.

“I really think it’s very important,” he said of the teen center. “We’re losing a whole generation. We need to do something to make places available for teens to go.”

He said the city could lease a vacant downtown building to open the center.

To entice a grocery store to open in the downtown area, he said he would call grocery store companies like Trader Joe’s and ask them to open a store there. As a transit rider who remembers the downtown Everett of the 1960s, Sullivan said the area needs to be revitalized and made more walkable.

He said building a detox center and affordable housing is also important to the city. To get the money to fund those projects, he said “there’s a lot of federal money available. I think we’d have to go after that.”

To solve the city’s budget challenges, he said Everett needs to attract more manufacturing businesses to build a larger tax base.

“We need more than just Boeing,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan has no campaign website and has “never turned on a computer,” he said. He opted to run a mini reporting campaign, meaning he does not have to file contribution and expenditure reports but cannot raise or spend more than $7,000 on his campaign.

Erica Weir

Weir, 57, is the general manager at the Village Theater in Everett.

Her top priorities include addressing the city budget and building support systems for the city’s homeless population.

To help solve the city’s budget crisis, Weir said the focus has to be on building revenue through a larger tax base as the city has already gone through a significant amount of cuts. She said working with local organizations to create public-private partnerships — similar to the Carl Gibson Center — could be a way of streamlining city services.

“I think that we have some untapped resources that the city can look at to amplify,” Weir said. “Not that we’re going to be dumping money at them, but if they’re already doing great work, we can make sure that we’re getting the needs filled in those ways.”

Weir also said “taking care” of existing businesses in the city could help attract new ones and grow more revenue.

In regards to housing, Weir said the city has to plan to make sure new developments don’t negatively impact existing communities. She also said the city should focus on growing home ownership opportunities and attempt to combat displacement.

“We want to make sure that we’re not causing the current residents to be priced out of their existing place or dislocating them for something else to be built,” Weir said.

In regards to the city’s homeless population, Weir said the city should attempt to pool the resources of local nonprofits to make sure the city is “fully utilizing what’s available to the community” while streamlining access to help, she said.

“I think the situation we’re in with the unhoused and mental health and drug issues is one of the biggest challenges the city is facing because it impacts everything else,” Weir said. “If there is that perceived sense of being unsafe, people don’t want to go out into their community.”

On public safety, Weir said she supports fully staffing the fire and police departments while increasing the number of social workers and bringing back the city’s recently cut park rangers program. To fund it, she suggested finding grants or uplifting private programs “that are doing good work,” she said.

On the city’s proposed multipurpose stadium, Weir said she’s “not opposed” to the project as she wants the AquaSox to stay and supports the possible new soccer team. But she also said the project felt rushed, with a lot of unanswered questions in regards to funding it. She also raised concerns over parking downtown.

Weir has been endorsed by State Sen. June Robinson and former City Council member Paul Roberts, among others.

Weir has raised just over $7,500 in campaign contributions as of Friday, state filings show.

Bill Wheeler

Wheeler, 42, works in facilities maintenance. He previously sought an at-large council seat in 2023.

Wheeler broadly disagrees with many of the decisions made at a city level, he said in a May 28 interview. He opposes increases in property taxes and utility rates, the city’s comprehensive plan periodic update and building a new downtown stadium. If elected, he would advocate for more transparency while on the council, he said.

In 2014, Wheeler was convicted of sexually exploiting a 16-year-old barista who exposed her breasts for tips at a coffee stand he operated in Everett. A judge sentenced him to three years in prison, which he served after his appeal failed in 2016. He was also required to register as a sex offender, court records show.

Wheeler maintained his innocence and said the state’s case was plagued by flaws.

“I don’t think the details and the facts align with the picture they tried to paint of me,” he said. “I’m a firm believer that when people get tried and convicted in a court of law … your time is served. I don’t believe in people getting punished for the rest of their lives.”

State law allows people convicted of felonies to hold elected office once they are no longer incarcerated.

Regarding the city budget, he said jobs should be consolidated and some salaries should be lowered to help meet the city’s challenges.

“I don’t think the solution is throwing money at it,” Wheeler said. “They’re going to have to deal with what they have, as far as digging yourself out of a deficit like that. If you have to pause programs, you have to pause programs.”

Wheeler also said he does not believe in property taxes, calling them “a land grab.”

On housing, he said the city shouldn’t have a hand in encouraging increased development and said the rate of building in the city has been too high. Instead, Wheeler said the city should focus on filling existing vacant units.

“We shouldn’t be people’s mommies and daddies,” Wheeler said. “If there’s not enough housing, you do the grown up thing and find somewhere else to live.”

In regards to public safety, Wheeler said police should “actually enforce the law” in regards to individuals addicted to drugs, and that private organizations like faith groups should work to assist homeless individuals instead of public agencies.

Wheeler, who has shared posts from conspiracy theorist Alex Jones on his social media account, is not seeking endorsements, according to his website. He also opted to run a mini reporting campaign.

Will Geschke: 425-339-3443; william.geschke@heraldnet.com; X: @willgeschke.