This year’s race for Shoreline city council position No. 6 brings three candidates, each hoping to accomplish an assortment of things should they be elected to the council this November.
The Enterprise invited current Shoreline Mayor Bob Ransom, Sherry Marlin and Terry Scott to meet at one time and be interviewed about several topics. While candidates shared similar thoughts on some items, their differences will give voters a choice in the primary on August 21.
Each candidate is thoughtful of how businesses will be affected along the second and third mile of the Aurora Corridor Project. Ransom, who is running in his fifth straight council race, has seen the ups and downs of designing and constructing the first mile of the Aurora Corridor. He said he will consider the position of businesses throughout the process. Marlin, a self-employed mother of four adult children said she sees the completion of the Aurora Corridor as a way of attracting the businesses that are needed if Shoreline is to become a more “economically viable community.” Scott, a faculty member in the physicians’ assistant program at the University of Washington, would like to see a better job done in the final phase of the second and third miles than what occurred in the first mile.
“Getting to what is now on the table came at a lot of discontent in community and I would hope we can avoid that in this phase,” he said.
Scott also believes that the council itself needs healing and that his skills as a healthcare provider will be to council’s benefit. He said any contention on the current council is “almost palpable at times” and finds that constituents want council members to get along with one another and carry out the business of the city in a respectful fashion. He said his experience on committees and in leadership roles while lobbying at the state and the federal level have helped him to be a consensus builder and he is flexible enough to know a final outcome may not end up being what he originally presumed or wanted it to be.
Marlin said she “is very good at dealing with contentious people” and has done it many times throughout the 32 years she has spent volunteering. The behavior of council members over the last two years has surprised her. Experience working with the Washington state PTA, Marlin said, has taught her to “be an independent person and vote for what is best for the sake of the people.”
Ransom said he has learned that he cannot always accommodate for other members of the city council. He said that while he is used to having to persuade council members to his position at times, there have been times when he has experienced being pursued and yelled at after meetings for not agreeing with the positions of other council members.
“I made it clear that you have to sell me on what the issue is,” he said. “I won’t vote as a block on anything and it seems to be working.”
The three candidates know budget shortfalls are projected for the city in the future and have ideas on how they would approach the issue.
Marlin believes that one thing that could help is by learning more about what residents want in terms of businesses in the city and said the sustainable neighborhood initiative is a very positive move for the city to make.
Scott also wants to work on increasing viable business in the city, on Aurora and along the southern half of 15th Avenue and North 145th Street.
“The first thing I want to look at is how to increase businesses and the second thing is that we need to cut some expenses,” Scott said. “We should be doing just as families do during lean times and that is looking at our project and saying what do we need to do now and what can wait until the more plush times come.”
Ransom said past solutions for dealing with budget shortfalls have included a franchise on utilities, use of excess gambling tax money and surcharges on cable TV. He said the city has not yet used a $20 motor vehicle tax and bringing the property levy lift back up to $1.60 would take a committee and two years but would raise another $3 million.
“We have a lot of projects going on at the same time,” Ransom said. “We’re going to have to slow our projects down so that we’re not using as much match money. Because even though the public would like to see (projects) done it’s very costly to do them immediately … we have to spread them out.”
Ransom said he thinks a need to fund human services originally funded by state and federal sources may arise but human services are generally not a city function. He believes in continuing to lobby for community block grants to help human services remain readily available.
“The city needs to look at the funding issue for human services,” Marlin said. “We should be at a point now where we’re able to give more funding to these services than we usually give.”
Scott said he would like to see human services receive more help, adding that when a city invests in human services it can’t and won’t go wrong.
Each candidate made their decision to run to see changes that they hope will improve Shoreline. Two main factors in Marlin’s decision to run was the development of a city hall and concern about the future of Fircrest and what it will be replaced with should it be torn down. Scott is interested in developing a housing plan that addresses a variety of issues, including type of housing choices for Shoreline’s aging adult population as well as young families. He believes it’s time for the city to be more fiscally responsible. Ransom thinks his experience and moderation have been assets in getting things accomplished and would like another term to see completion of the Aurora Corridor and Interurban Trail as well as the development of a city hall.
Deputy mayor Maggie Fimia is also running for re-election to her seat, position No. 4 and is challenged by Doris McConnell and La Nita Wacker on the August 21 primary election ballot.
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