Ransom, Chase vie for 32nd District seat

Both candidates for the 32nd District Pos. 1 race say the state budget and its forecast $2 billion deficit will be the utmost issue to address, if they are sent to Olympia.

In the race, state Rep. Maralyn Chase, D-Edmonds, appointed in January to fill the seat left vacant when Carolyn Edmonds was elected to King County Council, faces challenger and Shoreline City Council member Bob Ransom, R-Shoreline.

Ransom works as a human resources consultant and rehabilitation counselor and has served on the city council since 1995 after working to help incorporate Shoreline. Before that he served eight years on the Shoreline School Board and 12 years as an elected commissioner to the King County Shoreline Parks and Recreation district. As a council member and school board director, he said he worked as a legislative liaison, spending time in Olympia lobbying legislators on behalf of the city and the school district and says if elected, his experience would serve him well in Olympia.

He chose to run because of his experience, and he felt it was “the opportune time to challenge an appointed incumbent who has not been elected,” Ransom said.

Chase works in contracting and was appointed to the Legislature this past session where she served on the House Higher Education, Capital Budget and Trade and Economic Development committees. She has been involved in the Democratic party since the 1960s and has served in a number of leadership roles, most recently as a precinct committee officer within the 32nd District Democrats.

She is running for election to the seat because she said, “I have a responsibility to the community” to fulfill.

Both candidates say the budget is top priority.

Chase said to address the projected $2 billion deficit she would look to find efficiencies, look at all tax loopholes, and consider a tax increase.

“I am not willing to cut social services… we may need a tax increase of some sort and I don’t know what form” pointing out that a study is underway right now on the feasibility of an income tax.

Ransom said, “Before we talk to the public about taxes, we need to show that we are doing something about the efficiency and performance of the current programs. I’d be willing to talk about user fees and new taxes only once we’ve established credibility with the public. Most regular state functions need to be audited.”

Income tax should be the last thing considered and it should go before the voters, he said.

Both candidates said education was of utmost importance to this state, too, but pointed to different funding sources.

“On education, everyone talks about full funding,” Ransom said. “In reality, the Legislature defines what full funding is. I support as much as possible the educators’ view of full funding, but also, it’s very clear that quality of teachers makes the most difference and salary and conditions for teachers is very important.”

On top of the need to raise teacher salaries, Ransom said the state should award teachers an additional $5,000 a year for earning national credentials and an additional $5,000 a year if they mentor new teachers. He would look to user fees and gambling tax revenues as sources for this funding.

Chase said her colleagues in the Legislature have talked about using money from recent education initiatives to balance the budget, but that she would hold the line at full funding and not consider eroding money set aside for lowering class size and cost of living raises.

“I’m looking to the tax structure study (to see what it will say on the feasibility of changing the taxing structure) and would like to see a dedicated funding structure, for education,” she said.

On transportation, both candidates support referendum 51, which is going before voters next month for a 9-cent gas tax to pay for transportation projects, saying it should have been enacted in Olympia by lawmakers.

Both candidates say the road to economic recovery in Washington is supporting small businesses.

Ransom would work to change regulations and amend Business and Occupation taxing to be more supportive of small businesses.

“One thing is the red tape — there are 1,500 pages of regulations they face when they incorporate as a new business or get a business license, and it’s just overwhelming, and when they call the state for help, the frequently get penalized for non compliance rather than help.”

Chase would look at getting rid of the Business and Occupation tax on gross revenues, and look at fostering partnerships between businesses, environmentalists and labor. She pointed out that those very different groups have worked together to support her campaign and she would take that experience with her to Olympia.

Both candidates also answered some tough questions on their campaigning.

Critics have argued that Chase has delved too deeply into local politics by taking a stance on issues the Shoreline City Council is reviewing right now, including the Aurora Corridor project and the development along Thornton Creek by Aegis. She has criticized city officials for the way they handled both projects.

“Just because you become a state legislator doesn’t mean you can avoid your responsibility as a citizen in a local community. If I see any government body doing things I disagree with, I will speak out on it,” she said. “It’s my job, especially when we have state departments not helping small businesses, and when we pass environmental laws to stop sprawl and unregulated growth that cities are supposed to adhere to.

“Looking at how laws impact the local communities is just as important as passing them,” she said.

Ransom said Shoreline should not be fighting with small businesses along Aurora and should, instead, be seeking compromise. But ultimately, it is a local issue, he said.

“The responsibility of the Legislature is to get money to local communities to build projects,” Ransom said. “Chase’s position has been that she will, in effect, stop funding to the city until the city complies with businesses, and I think that she is making promises she can’t keep. It’s not something she can do, it’s unreasonable, and even if she could, it’s inappropriate because it’s a local decision.

“The proper place for businesses to complain is to local council and to get the majority of the local council to agree with them, and they haven’t been able to do that,” he said.

“I still think the council needs to sit down and compromise with our businesses.”

Ransom said protecting the environment is important but that it needs to be done equitably. He points out that while farmers have to be 300 feet from a stream, cities are allowing development much closer, and that’s not fair.

Ransom has been criticized for the large number of contributions to his campaign from people in the gambling industry.

“These contributors haven’t done anything, they just know I’ve looked favorably at gambling as a resource for income and I treat them as any other business and that is why they support me.

“They want a Legislature that’s favorable to their industry. They came within two votes of passing the expansion of gambling and having electronic pulltabs so they can have what Indian tribes have at their casinos at mini casinos,” he said.

He said he supports gambling because the city of Shoreline has about $20 million in reserve and that half of that has come from casinos. Also he said, the power to control whether or not more gambling can be built still lies with the cities.

“All four of our cities (in the 32nd district, Kenmore, Shoreline, Lake Forest Park and Edmonds) allow gambling—bingo and pulltabs. What they don’t allow are cardrooms because some of them have set their tax high so it’s unfeasible to build. The cities not only set the criteria, they also decide whether or not it’s allowed to be built in their jurisdiction.”