With the apparent victory Tuesday night of three candidates who adamantly oppose higher downtown buildings, the balance of power has shifted on the Edmonds City Council.
Ron Wambolt, in his first try for public office, in early returns was ahead of incumbent Jeff Wilson for the Position 3 seat with about 53 percent of the vote. Incumbent Michael Plunkett was out polling former council member Lora Petso by about 11 percent points in the race for Position 1 to secure his third term in office. With 80 percent of the vote, Deanna Dawson was trouncing perennial candidate Al Rutledge in her bid to return to the Position 2 seat.
With sitting Council member Dave Orvis also in the height-limits camp, Tuesday night’s leaders would represent a majority of votes on the seven-person Council that predictably splits 4-3 in matters concerning land-use issues.
Wambolt, a retired executive with the Fluke Corp., agreed there has been a shift in power.
“We’re all going to vote our own way, of course, but the four of us kind of agree on land-use issues,” Wambolt said of the apparent new majority.
“I think I can add enormous expertise on budget issues,” he said, adding he wished he were on the Council at the Nov. 7 meeting when the 2006 budget was being scrutinized.
Asked whether, after a campaign that turned nasty in the waning weeks, he could be friendly with Wilson post-election, Wambolt commented, “I don’t see any need to. He’ll be gone.”
At his campaign-night party at Portofino’s, Wilson said a Wambolt win paints “a very negative picture of the future.
“When someone tells you your town has no future, you don’t exactly come home warm and fuzzy.”
Plunkett, who ran hard on twin platforms of not raising building heights and no casino gambling, said he spent Tuesday evening picking up campaign signs. He said he was not surprised by his lead, which he considered a mandate against raising building heights. He said the town is at a crossroads as to how to develop downtown business districts.
Dawson spent election night celebrating at Rory’s of Edmonds with Edmonds firefighters who endorsed her; Mike Cooper, who was the top vote-getter in the County Charter Review Commission races; and Steve Dwyer, winner of his race for an open state Appeals Court seat.
“It shows people are paying attention,” Dawson said of her huge lead over Rutledge. “I think people in this town care about the height-restriction issue.”
She said she will continue to cast votes independently and not in a block with other council members.
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