The current candidates for Everett City Council all commit time and talent to their community, and many stress their multi-generation community roots, but community ties confer no monopoly on common sense. All the candidates pledge to help solve the city’s economic challenges and all rank public safety as a top priority for a healthy community. The distinguishing factor is how they propose to make the most of Everett’s unique assets: whether they’re content to continue supporting Mayor Hansen’s prescription for attracting new industry or whether they’ll search out a broader range of community-oriented development. Surely revitalization of the city’s core deserves a broader spectrum of economic alternatives than an event center and freight mobility projects.
The missing element on Everett’s council has been fresh perspective, from Everett residents who came here from other places. We bring other viewpoints, from experiences elsewhere: often we can “see ourselves as others see us,” pro and con and recognize the extraordinary potential in Everett’s half-hidden natural assets – its distinctive neighborhoods, its intriguing early history, vistas from the water’s edge, and not-yet-fully-developed cultural opportunities. Mary Ehrlich would bring that kind of fresh perspective to Council Position 1.
Council candidates demonstrated their individual perspectives in their responses to the community’s dialogue over the Shoreline Program Update, last spring. Some current council members listened politely to citizens’ pleas for more public access; a couple actually inquired about specific sites. Mary Ehrlich listened, as a concerned citizen, and went a step beyond.
Recognizing the complexity of competing shoreline management priorities (and noting the scant time allowed for council members review of the massive update proposal) Mary organized a half-day presentation on Snohomish Estuary Ecology (and Impacts) delivered by regional specialists during a tour of Everett’s shoreline. This offered council members an opportunity for up-close familiarization with water’s edge features that could be enhanced or lost under future development scenarios. That kind of pro-active responsiveness would serve the city well in dealing with future challenges.
I encourage you to join me in voting for Mary Ehrlich for Council Position 1.
Everett
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