Two months later, the hotly contested Everett mayoral race doesn’t seem to have ended.
Mayor Ray Stephanson was criticized this week for suggesting that some of the city’s $23 million surplus be set aside in a fund for capital investments such as land acquisition and construction projects. The criticism came from some members of the City Council who backed former Mayor Frank Anderson. They claim that Stephanson is contradicting a central point he made during the campaign, that the surplus shouldn’t be used to balance the city’s budget — a point that helped him edge Anderson by 274 votes. Anderson had planned to balance the budget by using $4.6 million of the surplus.
This is no flip-flop. Stephanson has identified a sound investment strategy, one that is not at odds with his campaign themes.
Stephanson argued consistently during the campaign that the city shouldn’t spend more in its operating budget than it brings in each year, because doing so isn’t sustainable. Once the surplus is drained, the expenses remain. At that point, revenue must rise or expenses must be reduced — raising the specter of tax increases or difficult budget cuts.
The idea Stephanson raised during a City Council retreat Wednesday was to put a yet-to-be-determined portion of the surplus into a fund for one-time investments in the city’s future — something Stephanson’s key critics on the council agree with, because it makes sense. Capital projects are important investments in economic development and quality of life, and are an appropriate use of the city’s sizeable surplus.
Stephanson said he does not envision spending any new capital dollars in 2004, but waiting until after a citizen group and the City Council have weighed in on priorities for such investments. That’s typical of the forward-looking, inclusive leadership style the mayor has shown in his first two months in office.
If the unforeseen arises, or if a future initiative cuts tax revenue, money could be moved out of the capital fund for emergency use.
To charge that Stephanson is contradicting himself is to misstate his position, and suggests that bitterness remains from the hard-fought campaign. It’s time to get past the politics and move toward a greater spirit of working together for Everett’s future.
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