LAKE STEVENS — The Lake Stevens City Council has four contested positions in the November election.
The candidates are focusing on city growth, the U.S. 2 trestle and transparency. Election Day is Tuesday, and Positions 3, 4 and 5 will not be on the ballot.
City Council members earn an annual salary of $12,000, according to Lake Stevens Payroll Accountant Mary Wells.
Position 1
Incumbent Kim Daughtry, a house remodeler, is facing off against political newcomer Sabina Araya, an assistant transit director.
Kim Daughtry
Daughtry was first elected to the City Council in 2009 and is also a member of the Puget Sound Regional Council Transportation Policy Board and Community Transit Board of Directors.
His focuses include city growth, public safety and fiscal responsibility.
To help with the city’s growth, Daughtry wants to look at commercial development and multi-use buildings, he said, particularly on 20th Street SE, where Lake Stevens is working with Everett to allow construction over the waterlines that run underground.
Daughtry is focused on continued growth to meet the requirements of the Growth Management Act that, according to Lake Stevens’ 2024 Comprehensive Plan, requires a city population of 48,565 by 2044. In 2023, Lake Stevens’ population was 39,500, according to census data.
“How do we zone the areas that are left and, quite frankly, some of the areas that we’ve already built out? How do we zone it to encourage the type of growth we need to reach that population?” he said. “The only thing we have left is you go up. We’re resigned to that fact.”
Daughtry believes in a holistic view of public safety, which includes sidewalks, parks and school zones. That being said, he also advocates for police and providing them with the equipment and training they need.
“We’re way down on police,” he said. “We should have 55, we only have 32 or 33 officers by population.”
To bring more officers to the city, Daughtry is for new-hire bonuses and higher salaries, as long as the general budget allows, he said.
However, to secure the funding, Daughtry is generally opposed to raising taxes.
“The way I feel about taxes is, yeah, they’re necessary. We’ve got to have taxes,” he said. “But holy crap, man. How far can we go?”
However, if a tax is necessary, Daughtry is willing to be convinced.
Daughtry opted for mini reporting with the Public Disclosure Commission, which does not require campaigns to file contributions if they raise and spend less than $7,000.
Sabina Araya
Currently, Araya is the assistant transit director for the City of Everett and previously the long range planning manager at Community Transit. She is also on the Puget Sound Regional Council Transit Operators Committee and Regional Transit-Oriented Development Committee.
Araya’s priorities include improving transparency, promoting city growth, addressing traffic and maintaining a balanced budget.
When it comes to government transparency, Araya believes in giving people all the information and letting them decide for themselves.
“I think by now, everybody understands that with every project there’s a trade-off,” she said. “In your communication, you have to be straightforward about that and willing to accept the consequences.”
On the city’s growth, Araya is supportive, but infrastructure should come before growth, she said, particularly when it comes to traffic.
She wants to improve roads and intersections — advocate for the U.S. 2 trestle project — and find ways to reduce commuter traffic, including a bus rapid transit line from Lake Stevens to Everett.
Also, she wants to bring more tech jobs to Lake Stevens so employees don’t have to drive south or into Everett.
“It would be nice to see more tech jobs, white collar jobs that are not retail,” she said. That being said, she loves the new Costco, the jobs Frontier Village offers and other retail jobs in the city.
As for the city budget, Arya will be financially conservative, she said.
“To have a sustainable budget, you have to be looking at where you can trim before you ask for more money,” she said. “Do the most you can with the money that you have, and then people that see that you’re responsible with it will support you in future measures.”
She does want to find more room in the budget to hire more police, she said.
Araya opted for mini reporting with the Public Disclosure Commission, which does not require campaigns to file contributions if they raise and spend less than $7,000.
Position 2
Incumbent and real estate developer Gary Petershagen and Amazon senior advisor and small business owner Brian McManus are seeking the Position 2 council seat.
Gary Petershagen
Petershagen was appointed to the Lake Stevens City Council in 2016, after which he was reelected twice. He owns two businesses — one in real estate development and another that provides inspection services to the construction lending industry.
If reelected, Petershagen’s priorities would include growth, public safety and the U.S. 2 trestle.
As the city continues to grow, Petershagen wants to balance population with more employment opportunities, he said. One major factor is bringing businesses to the 20th Street corridor.
“Growth creates opportunity,” he said.
Petershagen also denied accusations of “being developer-friendly,” or “being in the developers’ pocket,” he said.
“I’ve never done a project in the city of Lake Stevens. So I don’t know how you can tell me that I benefit from that,” he said.
On public safety, Petershagen wants to help bring the public’s feelings toward police to a “more middle-of-the-road type approach,” he said.
“We have been in a very tumultuous time in the last five, six years with the demonization of our police and public safety people. I mean, it’s been tragic,” Petershagen said.
He will advocate for funding the police and providing mental health support for officers, he said.
To get the U.S. 2 trestle project off the ground, Petershagen proposes assembling a coalition of representatives from Marysville, Lake Stevens, Everett, Snohomish, Monroe, Sultan and Wenatchee.
“Try to build this body so that we’re all in concert,” he said. “The Highway 2 corridor to Wenatchee is a problem.”
The coalition would advocate together for funding at the state and federal levels, Petershagen said. “You keep making that pitch. Hopefully, at some point in time, it’s going to gain traction.”
As of Wednesday, Peterhagen had raised $14,890 in campaign contributions, according to state filings.
Petershagen is endorsed by County Council members Nate Nehring and Sam Low, current City Council members Kim Daughtry, Ryan Donoghue, Kymm Shipman and Steve Ewing, Lake Stevens Mayor Brett Gailey, the Lake Stevens Police Guild, among others.
Brian McManus
McManus is the owner of Lake Stevens Brewing Company and a Senior Advisor at Amazon Business, where is procures contracts with the Department of War and Homeland Security.
He was appointed as a Lake Stevens salary commissioner in 2021 and is currently vice chair of the city’s Civil Service Commission. McManus is also the president of the North Sound Police Foundation and an advisory board member for the Coalition for Common Sense in Government Procurement.
McManus’ priorities include increasing transparency, city growth, financial responsibility and public safety.
To improve government transparency, McManus would create more opportunities for dialogue with community members during city meetings.
“They get two minutes to talk and then dismissed. There’s no rebuttal, no talk, no interaction, just speak your case and get out of here,” he said. Even if it means meetings going long, McManus said it would be worth it.
On city growth, McManus wants to focus on attracting businesses to the city rather than developing homes, condos and apartments. To do so, he would provide new businesses with tax incentives and other short-term losses that create long-term gains, he said.
“Attract businesses that can thrive in the community, but can also create some jobs in the community so that people don’t have to go over the trestle every day,” he said.
If elected, McManus said he would audit certain city employees’ salaries.
“Our public works director, who has 20 direct reports, if not more, gets paid less than our human resources person, who has three direct reports,” he said. “I don’t even know why a city this size needs four HR people.”
He added that there could be a valid reason, “but someone’s got to start asking those questions.”
The Lake Stevens public works director earns $200,450 a year, according to spokesperson Olivia Baumgardner. The human resources director earns $208,468 a year.
On public safety, McManus would prioritize finding money in the budget to hire more police officers.
“I’m the civil service commissioner,” he said. “We have 35 candidates in the chute ready to be hired. We don’t have the money to do it.”
As of Wednesday, McManus had raised $4,091 in campaign contributions.
Position 6
Incumbent Steve Ewing, a hearings officer, is facing off against youth mentor Tosha Edwards for the Position 6 seat.
Steve Ewing
Ewing was elected to the Lake Stevens City Council in 2019.
He works as an administrative hearings officer at the Monroe Correctional Complex. He has worked in mental health and community correction officer roles for the state of Washington since 2002.
His priorities include the U.S. 2 trestle, parks, public safety and new businesses.
To help get the U.S. 2 trestle project off the ground, Ewing wants to partner with Snohomish, Monroe, Marysville, Sultan and other cities, and advocate to the leaders at the state and federal levels.
“Regardless of who represents us here in the 39th or who represents us at the federal level, we have an obligation to work collaboratively with them for the benefit of our citizens,” Ewing said.
On parks, Ewing wants to build out Cavalero Hill Park — which the city took control of on Oct. 20 — and Eagle Ridge Park. Both reside on the western side of Lake Stevens.
“Our two signature parks are on the east side of the city,” he said. “A significant number of our population is on the west side.”
On public safety, Ewing supports community-based and empathetic policing.
“Our police officers are focused on doing the right thing for the right reason,” he said. He hopes to find funding to provide the police department appropriate staffing.
Prioritizing public safety also helps attract new business to the city, Ewing said.
“We want our citizens to feel safe patronizing businesses. We want business owners to feel safe operating their business,” he said.
To attract new businesses, Ewing also wants to provide tax incentives and keep the permitting process efficient.
As of Wednesday, Ewing has raised $14,140 in campaign contributions.
Ewing is endorsed by current Lake Stevens City Council members Ryan Donahue, Kymm Shipman, Gary Petershagen and Kim Daughtry, Mayor Brett Gailey, Snohomish County Council member Sam Low and State Representative Eslick. Organizational endorsements include the Lake Stevens Police Guild, among others.
Tosha Edwards
Edwards, a political newcomer, has worked for 11 years as a case manager and curriculum coordinator for Youth Re-Engagement at Everett Community College.
Her priorities include transparency, city growth and public safety.
To improve government transparency, Edwards wants to better utilize the city’s social media and make information easier to find on its website. She would also push for more open conversations during City Council meetings, she said.
On the city’s growth, Edwards would focus on improving existing infrastructure to allow for more businesses. Also, she would advocate for more low-income or affordable housing projects, she said.
“There are grants and stuff out there that we can utilize that will help us with our infrastructure if we have a set amount of affordable housing within an apartment building,” she said. “I think those are really underutilized.”
To help improve public safety, Edwards wants the community to play more of a role.
“We don’t really have a whole lot of neighborhood watch groups,” she said. “There’s things that our law enforcement could be doing to more engage the community and empower the citizens to play their part in preventing crime, instead of waiting for crime to happen.”
She also wants to create more opportunities for police to interact with younger people.
“I would take them out of their uniforms when they’re at schools,” she said. “Make them see the police officers as human beings, because right now, a lot of kids don’t relate to police.”
As of Wednesday, Edwards has raised $8,428 in campaign contributions.
She is endorsed by Lake Stevens School Board directors Vildan Kirby and Nina Kim Hansen. She is also endorsed by Snohomish County Council member Megan Dunn, Sheriff Susanna Johnson and state Senator John Lovick, D-Mill Creek, among others.
Position 7
Counseler Katherine McAllister and engineer Nathan Packard are seeking the open Position 7 seat.
Katherine McAllister
McAllister worked for 10 years as an attendant counselor at Fircrest Residential Habilitation Center for the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services.
Her priorities include transparency, infrastructure and park accessibility.
To improve transparency, McAllister would create more interactions between the public and the council, she said.
“It feels like the city does its best to block off public comment in just about every forum. You can’t comment on their YouTube videos or on their Facebook page,” McAllister said. “It feels purposeful.”
McAllister would create more events explicitly designed to invite public comment, she said, especially for project ideas and the public’s priorities. Also, she would ensure that all city meetings were made public.
“They seem to have a private meeting in the middle of every council meeting, but they don’t always say what that meeting is about,” she said.
Rather than grow the city, McAllister would prioritize projects that improve existing infrastructure, she said.
“We really need those infrastructure improvements before we keep expanding,” she said. “Before expanding an area, the city needs to take an inventory of the needs of the people in that area. Find out if they want more businesses or what’s missing.”
On parks, she would make the boat launch easier to access and add more parking at recreational areas.
McAllister opted for mini reporting with the Public Disclosure Commission, which does not require campaigns to file contributions if they raise and spend less than $7,000.
Nathan Packard
Packard is an engineering manager at Boeing Aerodynamics and a member of the Lake Stevens Planning Commission.
His priorities include infrastructure, recreation and community engagement.
Packard wants the city to mature but not necessarily grow, he said. He feels the residents want some of the benefits of an established city while still feeling like a small town.
“I love that Lake Stevens is a small town. It’s a lake town, I would love it to stay that way,” he said. “We can be very careful about where we enable certain densities.”
Outside of growth, Packard wants to improve the city’s walkability and help get drivers off the road, he said. Also, he wants to partner with other cities and leverage state and federal government resources to get the U.S. 2 trestle project going.
“It’s got to happen and it’s got to start. I mean, it’s this perpetual problem,” he said.
On recreation, Packard is “not convinced” the city needs to continue to grow aggressively. He would rather look for targeted opportunities to create new parks and improve the amenities in existing parks, he said.
On community engagement, Packard feels the City Council is making a “good faith effort” to be transparent, but it’s not connecting with the public.
“The city thinks it’s being transparent. I think it is. But the community isn’t feeling that,” he said. “How do we create different opportunities or different avenues for that communication? How do we get the community to share what the community already knows?”
As of Wednesday, Packard has raised $5,694 in campaign contributions.
He is endorsed by Lake Stevens City Council members Kymm Shipman, Ryan Donoghue, Kim Daughtry, Steve Ewing and Gary Petershagen, Snohomish County Council members Nate Nehring and Sam Low, among others.
Taylor Scott Richmond: 425-339-3046; taylor.richmond@heraldnet.com; X: @BTayOkay
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