LYNNWOOD — This city’s recent budget problems are grabbing center stage in the races for City Council this year.
Each of four incumbents up for re-election has drawn a challenger. Three of those councilmembers have been on the council for at least 12 years.
Each of the challengers, mo
st of whom are newcomers to city politics, cites restoring the budget as the most important issue facing the city — and so does each incumbent.
Last year, the city laid off 30 people, raised taxes and added new ones to
fill a projected $22 million shortfall for 2011 and 2012.
The most rancorous of the races is between challenger Van AuBuchon, 63, and 24-year veteran Councilman Jim Smith, 60.
The two spar not only over the budget but also over Proposition 1, a ballot measure to eliminate the city’s elected mayor position, hire a city manager and appoint a mayor from the ranks of the City Council. This is done in nearby cities such as Mountlake Terrace, Bothell and Mill Creek.
Several council members have in part blamed some of the city’s budget problems on Mayor Don Gough. If the measure passes, Gough would become an eighth council member for the remaining two years of his term.
AuBuchon opposes Proposition 1 because he says it will cost much more to recruit and pay a city manager than the mayor’s salary of $95,617 per year.
“Jim Smith is one of the main people (on the council) that are pushing personal agendas,” said AuBuchon, a member of the city’s Planning Commission. “Jim Smith ran for mayor five times and couldn’t get elected, so now he’s decided to have the mayor removed by changing the form of government.”
Smith, who ran for mayor in 1993, 1997, 2001, 2005 and 2009, said that’s not why he’s pushing the measure.
“It will cost us less for a city manager overall by managing the city properly,” he said. “We will save millions of dollars. The city of Lynnwood needs to be run professionally.”
The two differ over the city’s $25 million rebuilding of its recreation center. AuBuchon said the center has been a success and there are many smaller expenditures the city can look at cutting.
Smith argued against the recreation center project from the beginning, saying it should have been remodeled for $9 million rather than rebuilt, and opposed the recent tax increases.
“The administration has been overspending and that’s why we’re in the debacle we’re in right now,” he said.
Ted Hikel, 73, served two terms on the council in the 1970s and three more terms following election in 1999, for a total of 20 years.
His challenger, Sid Roberts, 57, said that’s long enough.
“It’s just that I think we need fresh faces, we need new directions,” Roberts said. “He (Hikel) has served honorably but this would be his sixth term. That’s a long time.”
Roberts said the rec center cost too much and favors Proposition 1. He believes he can help the council work together.
“There’s just been a major communication breakdown there. You can disagree, but you don’t have to be disagreeable,” he said.
Hikel opposes the change to a city-manager form of government, also saying it would be too costly.
And, “the council never held a single public hearing about it before they slapped it on the ballot. They have never had a conversation about what the costs would be,” he said.
Hikel said the city is studying a new process, called “budgeting for outcomes,” that would establish priorities by rating every city program.
“I hope my experience and conservative view of spending will be helpful for the city in moving forward in the (new budgeting) process.”
Michael Moore, 38, and 12-year incumbent Loren Simmonds survived a three-way primary to face off in the general election.
“I think we’re looking for some new blood, fresh ideas,” Moore said. He questions the rec center project and believes city officials do a poor job of listening and providing feedback.
“I want to go the extra mile to make sure they’re taking care of that,” he said.
Simmonds, 68, said the city needs to focus resources on essentials such as police, fire, roads and sewers without raising taxes. He also wants to strengthen current businesses and attract new ones.
Establishing small-business enterprise zones, getting input from business leaders and actively recruiting businesses are three ways of doing so, he said.
“I think we can do this, but we have to go into it with our eyes wide open,” he said.
Both Simmonds and Moore favor Proposition 1.
Benjamin Goodwin, 34, is challenging Councilman Ed dos Remedios, 68, who served two years as an appointee from 2005 through 2007, then did not run for re-election because of family matters. He was appointed again last year to replace Councilwoman Stephanie Wright when she was appointed to the Snohomish County Council.
“The city needs to stop spending as we’ve been spending in the past and watch our budgets and hopefully this economy will turn around sooner than later,” he said.
His challenger, Benjamin Goodwin, says improving communication between government and the residents will help the city’s finances.
“If we understand as a council what the public wants, it will be easier to see where the expenditures need to go,” he said.
Goodwin and dos Remedios both favor eliminating the mayor’s position in favor of a city manager.
Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439; sheets@heraldnet.com.
Lynnwood City Council
Position 4
Michael Moore
Age: 38
Occupation: Parking lot maintenance (coating, striping)
Website: www.electmichaelmoore.com
Priorities: Public safety; keeping taxes down.
Loren Simmonds
Age: 68
Occupation: Development consultant for non-profit organizations
Website: None for the campaign. City Council information available at www.ci.lynnwood.wa.us
Priorities: Diversifying the city’s economy; rebuilding infrastructure, such as water mains; maintaining public safety.
Position 5
Benjamin Goodwin
Age: 34
Occupation: E-commerce specialist for Costco; resident manager for Phillips Real Estate Services, Seattle.
Website: www.benjamingoodwin.org
Priorities: Addressing the budget deficit; accountability and openness; Lynnwood’s economic future.
Ed dos Remedios
Age: 68
Occupation: Retired after 22 years in the wood product industry and retail sector
Website: None for the campaign. City Council information available at www.ci.lynnwood.wa.us.
Priorities: Fair level of taxation to complement a high level of service; with emphasis on public safety; supporting local businesses and promoting new jobs; completing the City Center plan.
Position 6
Ted Hikel
Age: 73
Website: None for the campaign. City Council information available at www.ci.lynnwood.wa.us
Occupation: Retired from 25-year career with Nordstrom
Priorities: Public safety; financial responsibility; economic development.
Sid Roberts
Age: 57
Occupation: Real estate broker for own company, the Roberts Group of Everett
Website: http://electsid.wordpress.com
Priorities: Inventive ideas and new priorities, not new taxes; in addressing financial problems; keeping the police and fire departments a priority in the budget; an open and civil attitude in government.
Position 7
Van AuBuchon
Age: 63
Occupation: IT contractor for ntsystems.us
Website: www.votevan.net
Priorities: Sound financial management; restoring civility to city government and eliminating personal agendas.
Jim Smith
Age: 60
Occupation: Senior adviser, Atlas Mortgage, Lynnwood
Website: None for the campaign. City Council information available at www.ci.lynnwood.wa.us
Priorities: No new taxes and roll back the recent ones; return to a sound financial standing; restore levels of service.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
