MUKILTEO – Barring write-in campaigns, the look of this city’s government for the next two years already has been determined.
It won’t include three current City Council members or the mayor.
Council president Cathy Reese and Councilmen John Sullivan and J. Paul Rand each opted not to file for re-election. In May, two-term Mayor Don Doran said he would not run again. Combined, the four have served the city in one capacity or another for 49 years.
Each of the five city races features an unopposed candidate.
* Former Mukilteo council member and state legislator Joe Marine will be mayor.
* Citizen activist Kevin Stoltz filed for Reese’s seat.
* Marko Liias, who serves on the boards of the Mukilteo Chamber of Commerce and the Mukilteo Lighthouse Festival Association, filed for Sullivan’s position.
* Randy Lord, a member of the city’s parks and arts board, filed for Rand’s position.
The only incumbent to file for election was Lori Kaiser, appointed in September of last year. But she also is unopposed.
Council members Bruce Richter, Jennifer Gregerson and Tony Tinsley are in the middle of their terms.
The newcomers to the council and those stepping down have been at odds on some major city issues.
With Gregerson and Tinsley having voted with the newcomers’ positions on these issues, a new 5-2 majority could emerge.
The newcomers all oppose the city’s recent decision to build City Hall in Old Town next to the Rosehill Community Center.
The candidates also have been more definite about their desire to preserve the Rosehill building, as opposed to building a new community center, while those stepping down have taken more of a wait-and-see approach.
The City Hall and Rosehill issues could be settled before the new members take office, though a petition signed by 2,000 people against the City Hall decision could complicate that process. Either way, the candidates say the public will notice other differences.
They’ll listen to the public more and communicate more, bringing greater harmony, Stoltz predicted.
“We can cooperate and get along and actually work the problems to everyone’s benefit,” he said.
The newcomers contend that their views are more in line with the majority of city residents.
“It just seems like they weren’t listening,” Lord said of the current council, citing the City Hall issue in particular. Most public comments on the issue have favored building a new City Hall in Harbour Pointe.
Liias said he’ll be “a little more aggressive” in working with the state and other agencies on the transportation issues facing the city.
“I’m going to be much more hands-on and out in front of the issues,” he said.
Reese, the council president, said she’s not convinced the public is behind the newcomers. She said she’s heard from many others who, for instance, support the current council’s stance on City Hall.
“I don’t think they know if the public is behind them,” Reese said of the candidates.
The retiring council members each said they’re proud of the work they’ve done and are leaving to simply spend more time on their jobs and family.
Rand said in the past few years, the city has preserved Japanese Gulch and tidelands, taken over Lighthouse Park from the state, helped build the YMCA’s skate park, added other park space, built the new police and fire stations without tax increases and increased opportunities for public input.
“I stand firm that I believe the numbers speak for themselves in terms of all that we’ve done,” Rand said.
Reporter Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439 or sheets@heraldnet.com.
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