EDMONDS — Incumbents were holding their own in early City Council election returns Tuesday.
Position 1 councilman Michael Plunkett, 57, who’s served on the council since 1997, was leading challenger 41-year-old Priya Cloutier, 63 percent to 37 percent Tuesday night.
Plunkett led the pack in fundraising, bringing in $33,573 with Cloutier raising $27,393.02.
Cloutier, a Chamber of Commerce board member, says the city needs to diversify its economy so it’s not as dependent upon automobile sales for tax revenue.
Plunkett said he’s all for change as long as the small-town character of this city of 40,100 is preserved.
Candidates vying for three open seats had focused most of their attention on the city’s fiscal crisis. A $5.2 million budget gap led city officials to issue furloughs and program cuts earlier this year. In its latest cost-saving move, the city this week agreed to hire Snohomish County Fire District 1 to run its fire service.
In the races for two other open seats, incumbent Strom Peterson, 41, led challenger 53-year-old Diane Buckshnis, 54 percent to 46 percent and Adrienne Fraley-Monillas, 50, was leading former councilwoman 47-year-old Lora Petso, 54 percent to 45 percent.
Peterson, appointed last year to fill a seat vacated by Deanna Dawson, says the city should encourage more people to live in Edmonds. Buckshnis, a former bank regulator, said she would like to bring greater financial accountability to the city.
This is Fraley-Monillas’ second run for the council. She lost to D.J. Wilson in 2005 but was the leading vote-getter in the August primary. Fraley-Monillas ran a campaign focused on controlling spending.
Oscar Halpert: 425-339-3429, ohalpert@heraldnet.com.
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