Mill Creek, having incorporated in 1983, is among Snohomish County’s younger municipalities. Since its beginning it has grown quickly from about 7,000 residents in 1990 to more than 19,000 today.
City administration has been at times tumultuous for Mill Creek. The council sought and won the resignation of former city manager Ken Armstrong at the first of this year, following a pattern for a town that has forced half of its administrators from office since its incorporation.
In April, the council hired new City Manager Rebecca Polizzotto, a former assistant state attorney general in Alaska, who is helping guide the city and won council approval of plans for a commercial development that will provide senior housing, commercial space, a senior center and a satellite office for the police department. It’s a good sign that council and manager appear to be working well together as voters consider city council elections.
Three positions on the Mill Creek City Council are up for election this November, but only two are contested; Mike Todd is running unopposed for his Position 6 seat.
Position No. 5: Both current City Council member Vince Cavaleri and his challenger Lynn Sordel have both served previously on the council, though neither have won election to it. After an unsuccessful run for council in 2009, Cavaleri, a Mill Creek resident for 11 years, was appointed this January to fill a vacated seat. Sordel was appointed to the council in 2012, but lost election in 2013 to current council member Sean Kelly in 2013.
Cavaleri, a U.S. Army veteran and a corrections deputy with the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office, counts his priorities as ensuring full staffing of fire and police services, bringing in new retail businesses and is opposed to increases in the city’s utility tax.
Sordel, who has lived in Mill Creek for nine years, works as the director of parks and recreation for neighboring Lynnwood, overseeing a $13 million budget and 35 employees. Sordel shares many of Cavaleri’s priorities, but also advocates for transportation fixes including bus HOV lanes in the city and traffic light synchronization.
Cavaleri, in less than a year on the council, has been part of a successful team, but Sordel shows a deeper understanding of financial matters and department management specific to Mill Creek and has concerns for how well prepared the city is to withstand another economic downturn, with specific concerns for the city’s reserve fund.
Sordel deserves to return to the council, this time as the voters’ choice.
Position No. 7: Current council member Mark Bond, who is completing his third term on the council, is challenged by Douglas Carlson, who has previously sought appointment to and run for council seats.
Bond served on the Mill Creek Police Department before his current service as a deputy with the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office. Carlson has worked previously as a laboratory chemist and with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Carlson wants to see more done for the community’s homeless and those with addictions and wants Mill Creek to take up efforts he’s seen in other cities to ban single-use plastic bags in stores, smoking in parks and the sale of soda in supersized containers.
Bond, with nearly 12 years of service on the council, has been present for some of its toughest periods of contention and is optimistic about the future under the guidance of the new city manager. Paired with his 11 years as a city police officer, Bond’s knowledge and experience during the last 12 years on the council should serve it well as it continues a less contentious working relationship. Bond deserves a fourth term on the Mill Creek City Council.
Correction: An earlier version of this editorial gave an incorrect name for Position No. 5 candidate Lynn Sordel. It has been corrected.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
