Lynnwood City Council Position 5 incumbent Benjamin Goodwin faces challengers Chris Frizzell and Douglas Jones on the Aug. 4 primary-election ballot. Jones, however, has suspended his campaign for the office, but his name still will appear on the ballot because he made the decision too late to withdraw his name from the ballot.
Frizzell and Goodwin recently sent statements about what they think are the most important issues in the 2015 Lynwood election. Jones had sent a statement explaining his withdrawal. Their statements are here.
Statements from a contest involving council incumbent Loren Simmonds and challengers Maria Ambalada and Shirley Sutton appeared here last week.
The primary will narrow the field for each position to two for the Nov. 3 general-election ballot. Two other Lynnwood council positions have only two candidates each and will appear only on the November ballot.
Here are the statements from Frizzell, Goodwin and Jones in the order they will appear on the ballot and in local voters’ pamphlets:
Lynnwood City Council Position 5:
Chris Frizzell: I think the most important issue facing the City of Lynnwood at this time is the possible realignment of the Lynnwood Fire Department with Fire District One.
I believe the evaluation of merging the fire departments will take many meetings and much discussion to understand what is at stake. I am eager to look at information from all sides of this issue and talk to concerned citizens before making a decision on what is best for the City of Lynnwood.
Transportation and managing growth are other very important issues that the city is also facing and will continue to face in the coming months and years as light rail and more people come to Lynnwood to work, play and live as they realize that Lynnwood is a great deal more.
Benjamin Goodwin: I would argue the key issue for the 2015 election cycle is that of sustainability. We have an aging infrastructure with an increasing population, that will only continue to grow, that is burdening this infrastructure. We have roads in need of repair, short-handed police and fire departments, and water/sewer lines that are fading quickly. All of these items not only need repair, but a method with which we can continue these core services without a consistent call for raising taxes. Our current system is not sustainable, and we are going to find ourselves in a state of permanent catch-up if we do not do something sooner than later. Overall, we need to develop a system of dealing with this entire infrastructure and these budgetary needs in a sustainable fashion. With the continued work of the council and our new finance director, this is doable – this will be my work.
Douglas Jones: With much regret and thought, I have decided to withdraw. I recently was appointed to the board of directors for a non-profit in the area and want to serve on that board to the best of my ability and won’t be able to focus my time effectively with trying to campaign. Unfortunately per the Snohomish County Elections I could not formally be taken off the ballot because I was past the date I was able to withdraw.
Evan Smith can be reached at schsmith@frontier.com.
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