LAKE STEVENS — Lake Stevens city government will take on a new look next year as two new council members were elected Tuesday.
Incumbent Councilwoman Karen Alessi was trailing challenger Mark Somers in early returns. John Spencer was leading Boeing mechanic Kerry Watkins in the race to replace Councilman Steve Brooks, who lost to Spencer and Watkins in the August primary.
The mayor’s office will likely stay the same as Mayor Vern Little easily outpaced challenger Jeff Craig in early returns. Little, a former city councilman, was appointed mayor last November to replace Lynn Walty, who resigned from the job.
Little, 53, said in his campaign that the city is working on annexation and land-use planning to gain control of growth.
“I think it’s the message and the fact I’ve been involved for 20-some years out here,” he said in explaining his apparent victory.
Somers, 54, manages the cable access channel for the city of Everett. “I worked hard in this campaign, and this is a result of that,” Somers said Tuesday night.
Alessi, 68, has served one term. She formerly served on the city’s Arts Commission and worked as a location manager for Hewlett-Packard.
Former Mayor Lynn Walty’s bid to return to city government was coming up far short Tuesday as incumbent Councilwoman Suzanne Quigley held a commanding lead in the race between the two.
Walty, 66, served on the City Council for seven years and as mayor for nearly seven. Quigley, director of a Seattle school for deaf children, was appointed early this year to replace Mayor Vern Little, when he took Walty’s place as mayor.
Walty decided to run for City Council after his wife recovered from cancer and because he disagreed with Quigley on how close construction should be allowed near city waterways.
Quigley, 46, led the push to study larger buffer zones around the lake, streams and wetlands. In the past she worked to get her Frontier Village neighborhood annexed to the city and has worked on school bond measures. “I have a history of being able to get results,” she said.
Councilwoman Kathy Holder, appointed early this year, was holding off a challenge from Michael Friend. Holder, 39, works part-time as an educational assistant for the Lake Stevens School District and previously served as a captain in the Army. Friend, 52, is a system analyst for Paccar.
Spencer, 60, is a utility consultant for CH2MHill. Watkins, 45, is a Boeing aircraft mechanic and a captain in the National Guard.
Reporter Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439 or sheets@heraldnet.com.
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