Mill Creek voters only have one contested City Council race on their ballot this year. Rather than a sign of apathy, we suspect it reflects a general sense of satisfaction in a city that has weathered tough budget times better than most.
In that contested race, our endorsement goes to the inc
umbent, Mike Todd, who also currently serves as the council-elected mayor. (Mill Creek’s administrative functions are run by a city manager, who reports to the council.)
Todd is running for a second full term, after being appointed to fill a vacancy in 2005. He brings expertise in management and finance, having worked as a senior manager at Fluke Corp. before retiring to become a stay-at-home father and community volunteer.
Finance is an area of strength for Mill Creek, which has benefited from years of conservative budgeting that built very healthy reserves. That’s why city services have been well maintained even as the recession held down tax revenues.
Todd has pushed for sound planning during recent years that has positioned the city to move forward quickly when the economy finally recovers. Plans for a new East Gateway mixed-use project along 132nd Street SE are well underway, and state matching funds will help pay for infrastructure. Such planning during slack times will put the city in excellent position to draw major retailers as soon as the economy picks up.
Todd is challenged by Charlie Gibbons, a longtime businessman and three-term Mill Creek planning commissioner. Gibbons is pointedly critical of the City Council, but his criticism doesn’t appear well-founded.
He argues that the city has done a poor job of drawing attractive businesses into the city. He says he has spoken with business contacts about bringing businesses such as Trader Joe’s and Target to the city. But Mill Creek isn’t short of grocery stores, and retail has grown with the addition of Mill Creek Town Center. The East Gateway will bring in even more.
Gibbons also draws a bleak picture of city finances, suggesting that the city has failed as yet to deal with looming revenue shortfalls. With reserves of around 40 percent, though — the result of years of careful budgeting while holding taxes down — there’s no immediate emergency.
And while he correctly points out that the police department’s staffing has been about 20 percent short for the past 18 months, it’s a short-term problem caused chiefly by difficulty finding quality prospects and getting them through the state training academy, which has suffered from budget cuts. It’s a challenge many jurisdictions face, and Mill Creek has managed to keep service levels constant with overtime.
Two other City Council positions will appear on the Mill Creek ballot, but both of the incumbents, Mark Harmsworth and Mark Bond, are running unopposed.
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