Mukilteo City Council member Cathy Reese isn’t giving up her seat just yet. Reese, a 12-year member of the council, will run as a write-in candidate after deciding not to file for a fourth term.
She’ll face council watchdog Kevin Stoltz, who is running unopposed.
“I am not running a full-blown campaign,” Reese said. “I’ve just been asked by many, many people to consider a write-in. If people write me in and I win, I’ll serve.”
Reese said she had already been asked to run when Elizabeth Erickson, owner of Gallery Homes Real Estate in Mukilteo, stood up at a Mukilteo Chamber of Commerce luncheon earlier this month and asked her to run.
“I was one that happened to be more of a bulldog” on the idea, said Erickson, who will run Reese’s campaign. While she confirmed that Reese is holding back on the throttle, Erickson said she will not.
“I’ve already started collecting money. We’ve opened a bank account,” she said, adding that about $1,000 has been raised so far.
She plans to buy yard signs and mailers, though not as many as in a conventional campaign.
Erickson and Reese both said many people are concerned that too much attention has been given to decisions on where to build a new city hall and whether to preserve Rosehill Community Center.
Plans for a new ferry terminal, where to route traffic to the terminal and possible expansion of Paine Field have been given short shrift by the slate of three newcomers who are running unopposed, Erickson said.
“These are the pressing issues,” she said.
Reese and Mayor Don Doran, who is stepping down this year, serve on regional boards and can make a difference on such issues, Erickson said.
Doran also was asked to run a write-in campaign for City Council, but declined.
Stoltz said the new city hall and Rosehill have been front and center because the council has made them so.
“That’s what they’ve been discussing,” he said. “Anyone who knows me knows I’m not a one-issue candidate and never have been. Paine Field is really at the top of my list.”
Regarding Reese’s campaign, he said, “It’s funny, because I expected to run against her.”
Stoltz lost to Reese four years ago.
Reese said people mentioned another concern to her.
“They’re not happy about the lawsuit,” she said.
Stoltz is suing the city over the council’s decision not to act on a petition calling for city hall to be built next to the police station on 47th Place W. rather than next to Rosehill. A Superior Court decision on the case is expected next week.
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