EVERETT — Their personal and political styles are starkly different.
One candidate for Everett City Council Position 4 is fiercely independent, some say stubborn, known for calling city staffers on the carpet at televised meetings when he disagrees with them. His challenger carries a more conciliatory tone, often nodding and whispering affirmations from the audience when city administrators speak.
But Everett City Councilman Ron Gipson, 49, and his challenger, Charlene Rawson, 54, both have at least one thing in common. Their answering machines share the same motivational advice:
“Thank you … and make it a great day.” Beep.
On Nov. 6 — Election Day — the two hope Everett residents will cast enough votes their way to make it their great day.
Gipson, a corrections officer at Denney Juvenile Justice Center, finished first with 45 percent of the vote in the four-way August primary. Rawson, a mortgage broker and Everett neighborhood advocate, finished second with 26 percent of the vote, allowing her to advance to the general election.
Everett City Council members are paid an annual salary of $24,000, are eligible for medical benefits and serve as elected representatives of the city’s legislative branch. Council members set policy direction for the city’s administration, approve most major contracts and pass city ordinances.
Charlene Rawson
Rawson said she is running because she will be a voice for working-class residents, something she says she believes is missing from the council.
If elected, the Port Gardner Neighborhood representative, said she would take steps to strengthen Everett’s 19 organized neighborhoods, hold downtown landlords accountable for keeping their properties up to code and push for tax breaks for ecologically friendly businesses.
“I’ve always felt tax incentives are a good way to offset additional costs for doing a better thing,” Rawson said.
Rawson said she believes more can be done to keep residents apprised of developments and projects in their neighborhoods, and said she will try to improve communication out of City Hall.
This is Rawson’s second council attempt. In 2005, she was defeated by Everett City Councilman Mark Olson, who later encouraged her to run again.
Lillian Kaufer, a Democratic activist leading an effort to keep Wal-Mart out of Mill Creek, is heading up Rawson’s campaign, which has drawn endorsements and cash contributions from a number of state and local politicians. Rawson’s financial backers include Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon; state Rep. John McCoy, D-Tulalip; Everett Port Commissioner Connie Niva; and Mukilteo City Councilman Marko Liias.
“I’m very progressive, I understand the changes that are coming, and I’m motivated by a desire to build bridges between city government and the community,” Rawson said.
Ron Gipson
Gipson is a former Everett High School football standout, University of Washington fullback and president of the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
He said voters should elect him to a fourth term because of his advocacy for young people, seniors and working families.
If re-elected, Gipson said he will push for city funding of youth activities and reign in expensive consulting contracts that he said are too numerous and unnecessary.
He also wants to take stronger steps against people who solicit prostitutes in the city. He wants to put their photographs up on the city’s public-access TV channel, Everett TV 21, and the city’s Web site.
“I’m a strong voice for the people, and the people are my bosses,” said Gipson, who said he keeps his number listed in the phone book so that constituents can reach him.
Everett needs to do more to provide positive activities for teenagers, he said, and should consider funding a dance club or some other safe gathering place for high school students.
Gipson is funding and running his own campaign this year, using recycled yard signs from previous elections.
He was first elected to fill his father’s council seat in 1995 and was re-elected to three consecutive terms. His father, Carl Gipson, was the first elected African-American in the community and served on the council for 24 years.
Gipson has been criticized recently for his attendance record — he has missed 10 of 42 meetings this year. Gipson defends his excused absences, saying they followed the death of his mother, mother-in-law and an illness that sent his daughter to the hospital.
“I don’t regret missing the meetings,” Gipson said. “For me it’s Lord first, family second and myself third.”
Reporter David Chircop: 425-339-3429 or dchircop@heraldnet.com.
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