EDMONDS — The lines are drawn. The differences are clear.
Incumbent Port of Edmonds Commissioner Ken Reid and his Nov. 4 election challenger, Marianne Burkhart, disagree on what should be the port’s role regarding the proposed Brightwater sewage treatment plant.
"I suppose if we were more politically astute, we would have," Reid said regarding a contention by Burkhart that the port should have taken a stance against siting Brightwater in Edmonds.
"We didn’t think that was a responsible or effective role for the port," Reid said.
Burkhart disagrees.
"The citizens of Edmonds made it abundantly clear they did not want Brightwater right by our beautiful waterfront," Burkhart said. "We wanted a united community front, and the port did not want to stand with the city and the citizens."
Reid stresses that the commission did not support Brightwater and the five commissioners, himself included, oppose it individually. The port did submit a 13-page list of environmental concerns about the project.
Burkhart, 57, is a manager of women’s health programs and has managed a hospital clinic and a coffee shop. She is making her first try at elected office.
"I have two decades of experience in managing public funds in a responsible and prudent manner," she said.
Burkhart said she’s also concerned about the port’s finances. She contends the port charges too much through moorage and stack storage rates to stockpile money — it has about $7.5 million in investments, Reid confirms — to pay for future rebuilding or disaster recovery.
Reid acknowledged that rates have increased "considerably" in recent years, but only to keep up with the cost of repairs and upkeep.
Reid, 59, has a long background in public service. He has been a consultant, public works director, state agency director and community advocacy director.
Reid was elected to the port in 1997 on a platform of reducing or eliminating the tax levy. The port reduced the levy by 60 percent two years into Reid’s term, he pointed out. But it went back up slightly again this year.
Reid would like to eliminate the tax levy and make the port self-sustaining on moorage and rental income.
Burkhart said the tax levy should be maintained to keep intact the port’s bonding capacity. Reid said the port need only have the authority to levy a tax, that it doesn’t have to assess it to sell bonds.
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