3 incumbents, 1 challenger

Having settled some long-standing tensions over night meetings and other public-input issues, the Everett City Council has performed at a relatively high level, and with greater openness, for more than a year now. Thanks to prudent executive leadership and effective oversight and support by the coun

cil, the city is weathering financial challenges better than most, having avoided layoffs so far and maintaining healthy reserves.

The City Council doesn’t need an overhaul. With a deeper-than-usual field running for four seats this fall, our endorsements reflect a desire to maintain a meaningful diversity of viewpoints, and a reasonable balance of experience and fresh ideas. It’s also important that the council reflect a measure of the city’s geographic diversity.

With those priorities in mind, we endorse three of the incumbents — Ron Gipson, Drew Nielsen and Shannon Affholter. In a close call, we also endorse a challenger, Scott Bader, over an incumbent, Brenda Stonecipher.

Position 4: Gipson, the council’s longest-serving current member, is seeking a fifth term. He’s a decidedly working-class voice on the council, working as a corrections officer at the Denney Juvenile Justice Center. He knows the city well, having been born and raised here.

Gipson is assertive at council meetings, never hesitating to ask tough questions of colleagues and staff. Rather than looking 20 years into the future, Gipson is more focused on the next five, during which he says the city needs to attract more vocational training opportunities for teens and young adults “who won’t ever go to college.” They need good-paying jobs, Gipson says, and they can’t wait.

Gipson is challenged by a strong first-time candidate, June Robinson. As the executive director of the Housing Consortium of Everett and Snohomish County, she’s intimately familiar with challenges faced by people in Everett’s lower-income neighborhoods, and has good ideas regarding transit service and other alternatives to single-occupant commuter trips. She’s smart and well-qualified, but doesn’t make a compelling case for replacing Gipson.

Position 5: Nielsen, a real-estate attorney, is seeking a second full term. He works hard, digs into issues, and has offered sharp and effective oversight. He’s an advocate for making smart strategic investments to attract employers, a view that we think needs to be represented — even if new spending isn’t a smart option for the time being.

He’s challenged by Erv Hoglund, a former airline pilot and longtime volunteer who has run several times for the Legislature. He’s a staunch fiscal conservative, a particularly strong point in times like these, but isn’t up to speed as much as he should be on the city’s financial picture. He didn’t realize, for example, that the city carries a 20 percent reserve.

Position 6: Our endorsement of Bader, an attorney who works for the Archdiocese of Seattle, isn’t a rap on the capable Stonecipher. Rather, it’s a recognition of Bader’s strengths, including 30 years as a South Everett resident (he now lives in the Riverside neighborhood) and his belief that the city has under-allocated resources to southern parts of the city.

Both Bader and Stonecipher are extremely bright, committed candidates. Bader would bring a firm focus on core services, understanding that tax revenues are almost certain to remain tight for some time to come. He would put a priority on keeping neighborhoods livable by pushing to make them more walkable — as North Everett neighborhoods already are — and ensuring that street maintenance gets done.

Stonecipher is a capable council member, but at times it seems she and Nielsen bring essentially the same approach to issues. Bader, it seems to us, would bring fresher ideas.

Position 7: As council president this year, Affholter has acted as a calm, moderate voice on the council. He brings a strong business sense and an open mind to issues.

His challenger, Jackie Minchew, is a passionate activist on a number of issues. Whether he makes it to the council or not, we’re confident he’ll continue to make positive contributions, forcing people to think about the long-term implications of growth and energy use.

Talk to us

More in Opinion

FILE — In this Sept. 17, 2020 file photo, provided by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, Chelbee Rosenkrance, of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, holds a male sockeye salmon at the Eagle Fish Hatchery in Eagle, Idaho. Wildlife officials said Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2021, that an emergency trap-and-truck operation of Idaho-bound endangered sockeye salmon, due to high water temperatures in the Snake and Salomon rivers, netted enough fish at the Granite Dam in eastern Washington, last month, to sustain an elaborate hatchery program. (Travis Brown/Idaho Department of Fish and Game via AP, File)
Editorial: Pledge to honor treaties can save Columbia’s salmon

The Biden administration commits to honoring tribal treaties and preserving the rivers’ benefits.

toon
Editorial cartoons for Saturday, Sept. 30

A sketchy look at the news of the day.… Continue reading

Eco-nomics: Climate report card: Needs more effort but shows promise

A UN report shows we’re not on track to meet goals, but there are bright spots with clean energy.

Comment: Child tax credit works against child povery; renew it

After the expanded credit ended in 2021, child poverty doubled. It’s an investment we should make.

Matthew Leger
Forum: Amenian festival shows global reach of vounteers

A Kamiak student helped organize a festival and fundraiser for the people of a troubled region.

Dan Hazen
Forum: Things aren’t OK, boomers; but maybe the kids are

Older generations wrote the rules to fit their desires, but maybe there’s hope in their grandchildren.

Comment:Transition to clean energy isn’t moving quickly enough

Solar energy and EV sales are booming but we have a long way to go to come near our global warming goal.

Patricia Gambis, right, talks with her 4-year-old twin children, Emma, left, and Etienne in their home, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019, in Maplewood, N.J. Gambis' husband, an FBI agent, has been working without pay during the partial United States government shutdown, which has forced the couple to take financial decisions including laying off their babysitter. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Editorial: Shutdown hits kids, families at difficult moment

The shutdown risks food aid for low-income families as child poverty doubled last year and child care aid ends.

toon
Editorial cartoons for Friday, Sept. 29

A sketchy look at the news of the day.… Continue reading

Most Read