MUKILTEO — A bid to take over the City Council appeared to have won Tuesday night, as early results had voters picking challengers to fill three of four incumbent spots on the council.
Jennifer Gregerson, Donna Lansberry, Tony Tinsley and Julie Irwin all said the current council doesn’t listen well enough to citizens, and that it was time for a change.
And with nearly 2,000 votes in as of 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Gregerson, Lansberry and Tinsley were all leading their races, with Irwin the only one of the four losing.
Gregerson led former planning commissioner Dan Gray by a sizeable margin, Lansberry had a slight lead over incumbent Bruce Brown and Tinsley led incumbent Eileen Hinds by a moderate margin. Incumbent Bruce Richter led challenger Irwin by a small margin.
"I think it’s great that the rest of Mukilteo thinks it’s time for a change," said a celebrating Gregerson. "I’m totally honored to have the honor to serve the city."
The challengers all support efforts to save the Rosehill Community Center, but each campaigned on other issues as well, including Lansberry.
"I think people know that I’m about more than Rosehill," she said. "I think it’s just big getting new people in there. It’s going to make a big difference. I think new people are going to bring in new ideas and new perspectives."
Although he was ahead, Tinsley was being cautious Tuesday night.
"I figure that there are going to be that least many more votes coming in. It’s far too early to be to overconfident," he said.
If he wins, Tinsley said he is looking forward to working with the new council.
"I’m thrilled," he said. "You can wind up eating crow on these matters, but the fact is I did a lot of doorbelling. The people who were willing to talk, the people who listened said they were pretty much fed up with the current administration."
Gregerson said there are a number of issues she wants to tackle, including working on the city’s new plan for Mukilteo Lighthouse Park and developing the city’s new comprehensive plan.
Reporter Lukas Velush: 425-339-3449 or lvelush@heraldnet.com.
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