By Theresa Goffredo

Herald Writer

EVERETT — This year, the race for mayor is more than just full. It’s downright crowded, compared with the 1997 race when Ed Hansen ran unopposed.

Well, Mayor Hansen can blame the crowd on the proposed special events center, which has drawn three political newcomers into the fray for Everett’s centerpiece political spot.

That project, the future of the waterfront and traffic are the main issues mayoral candidates are rallying around.

The four-way race will be whittled down to the top two finishers in the Sept. 18 primary. They advance to the general election Nov. 6. The mayor’s post is a full-time, four-year term that pays $116,000 a year. The job is administrative and the mayor doesn’t get to vote on issues before the council.

Candidate Gary Hatle said he opposes putting the proposed events center downtown, saying the site at Hewitt Avenue will make Everett’s recent gnarly traffic jams look like a "drop in the bucket."

"We’re not ready for 2,000 cars a minute coming into the city for an event," said Hatle, 57, adding the events center should have been built closer to the city’s new transit center at Pacific Avenue and 35th Street.

Hatle said what happened with the events center is indicative of what’s going on at City Hall — there’s no one listening.

"I feel the city is going in a direction that is not in the will or line of vision of the residents of the city," Hatle said.

If elected, Hatle, a musician and professional accompanist, also has promised to donate $16,000 of his salary back into social services or the arts.

"People say I’m just a musician but Ed was just a lawyer and you know what people say about them," Hatle said.

Candidate and consulting engineer David Sherman also believes the special events center shouldn’t have been placed "smack in the middle of downtown," saying the city owns lots of property so there was little need to buy out downtown business owners to build the project.

"I believe in open government, and the arena is a perfect example because it’s been railroaded through by people who own businesses downtown, and everybody else who is paying taxes has been cut out of the process," the 41-year-old Sherman said.

Sherman, who enjoys fixing old industrial equipment and drives a restored "deuce and a half" Army truck, is also passionate about public access to Everett’s waterfront.

For instance, he believes the port area in north Everett can benefit by a better combination of good-paying jobs and increased public access, such as pedestrian trails and a park.

"It can easily be done with a little bit of forethought, blending jobs and quality of life," Sherman said.

For candidate Glenn Coggeshell III, the special events center doesn’t belong downtown, which needs revitalizing and "something more than just a sports center."

An entrepreneur and musician, Coggeshell said the city needs other types of downtown events to draw crowds. But Coggeshell’s main campaign issue is youth. He would like to see the city creating more for the teen community.

"Everett should be in the forefront of youth-type events that would create a wave across the nation and put Everett on the map," said Coggeshell, the youngest mayoral candidate at 32.

Hansen defends the city’s decision to build a special events center downtown for a number of reasons: it will have a second ice rink for public skating; it will bring entertainment to Everett so people don’t have to drive to Seattle; it will be an easy, three-block walk from the transit center.

Hansen, 61, also believes the center won’t impact downtown traffic because people will have thousands of places to park, according to a city-funded traffic study on the project.

Traffic is an issue Hansen said he’s been working on since the 1980s when he first served as president of the Snohomish County Committee for Improved Transportation. To address traffic problems, the city has to continue to work at the local and regional level, Hansen said.

"I’ve got a good background to be effective in helping to find traffic solutions," he said.

You can call Herald Writer Theresa Goffredo at 425-339-3097

or send e-mail to goffredo@heraldnet.com.