If you live in Mill Creek — or are one of the thousands of commuters who drive through it each day — you know that change is underway there.
The city’s main north-south artery, the Bothell-Everett Highway, is being widened from two lanes to five. New high-end apartment complexes will help fill those new lanes, and a new sports park will open soon. Just to the south, a new town center is taking shape, promising a focal point that was lacking in this 20-year-old planned community.
Against this backdrop, the City Council faces crucial decisions about the future — particularly about the pace and size of growth. That’s the main theme of the two contested council races.
Experience and a measured approach to growth are both needed at this point of Mill Creek’s development. That’s why we recommend voters choose incumbents Dale Hensley and Jack Start in the Nov. 4 election.
Hensley, a former dean of instruction at Everett Community College, understands the complex issues related to growth because he’s been wrestling with them as a council member for eight years. He is skeptical that more annexations would be good for the city, and favors putting off that decision until the town center has had time to become established and more is known about how much revenue it will bring in. He does understand, though, that because the city is virtually built out, mitigation fees won’t feed the city budget the way they did in the past.
Hensley is challenged by energetic political newcomer John Ware, a promising candidate who works for Quilceda Creek Vintners, a family business. Ware touts his 14 years of business experience and says he would bring business-like solutions to the council. One of his priorities would be drawing larger employers and more retailers to the city to broaden the tax base.
Start, who is running for a second term, opposes annexing the area east of 35th Avenue SE. He argues that property and utility taxes brought in by annexing more residential areas wouldn’t cover the additional cost of services. His vision has Mill Creek remaining a bedroom community, an "oasis" away from the metropolitan complex. As a retired manager at the Federal Reserve Bank, Start also brings a strong financial background to the council.
Start’s opponent, business owner Jeff Smart, favors growth that includes expanding the city’s business tax base. Like Ware, he is an earnest, qualified candidate, but hasn’t made a compelling case that a change is warranted.
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