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“We all work pretty collaboratively on the council and have accomplished a lot of things over the last number of years,” he said.
Dave Raatz, challenger for the Position 1 seat, says the city is spinning its wheels and needs new leadership.
“My feeling is after a couple terms, you really lose your effectiveness. You lose your sight and focus,” he said.
This is the first time Stanley has been challenged, and his tenure on the council is seen as a weakness by his opponent. For Stanley, it’s what he’s accomplished with that time that sets him apart.
Stanley said he is proud of council actions on social justice issues, such as approving an equal benefits ordinance and an ordinance that protects manufactured home residents from being summarily evicted or having the home sold from underneath them. The city must focus on Capitol Boulevard improvements in the near future, he said.
“It’s pretty ugly now in some spots,” he said.
Stanley said the city has millions in guaranteed grants in the next three years and improvements could look similar to Littlerock Road, including new lighting, medians and vegetation.
TIME FOR CHANGE, CHALLENGER SAYS
Raatz said he has seen little improvement in the city since Stanley joined the council. He’s not happy with the city’s transparency, infrastructure improvements and what he sees as a lack of emphasis on funding public safety. He’d also like to see more emphasis on parks and youth programming.
Raatz said problems with construction on Littlerock Road, including issues with contractors and the need to fix sections of the project, represents the general attitude of city government.
“Everybody knows Tumwater can’t build roads,” he said.
Raatz said workers on a different project near his home left pallets, crates and chunks of asphalt in his neighbors’ yard. He said he went to City Hall and got nowhere and that nothing got done until he had a direct conversation with Mayor Pete Kmet.
‘I DON’T BELIEVE IN CUTTING AT ALL’
Stanley said one issue facing the city is dealing with the ever-increasing cost of employee salaries and benefits. Addressing those costs while maintaining services and not laying off staff is an issue that will have to be addressed soon, he said. New tax revenue from Walmart will hopefully help boost the city’s coffers enough to avoid cuts or layoffs, Stanley said.
“I don’t believe in cutting (services) at all,” he said, adding that the city should increase contributions to the Visitors Convention Bureau and the Economic Development Council to help bring visitors and businesses to the city.
Raatz said that, if elected, he would keep the council on its toes because he would scrutinize everything and make sure everything isn’t rubber-stamped and is more transparent. He also questions pay increases for the council during tough economic times
“I will ask those questions,” he said.
PUBLIC SAFETY
Voters recently approved an increase in property taxes to fund new police officers and firefighters, expanding the police station and creating a fund to replace aging fire trucks.
Raatz, who sat on the public safety task force, has called into question why it took the city so long to address the issue. He said the city has spent plenty of money on cost overruns at the golf course restaurant and redoing projects multiple times because of errors.
“What would be another budgetary requirement that trumps police and fire?” he asked.
During a forum several weeks ago, Raatz said that the city is using its residents as an ATM machine.
Stanley said the delay came as an attempt to balance the budget and making do with the services available. He said the city came to a breaking point where aging fire trucks, increased growth and annexations, and inadequate facilities forced the city to act.
“The only thing we could do was go to voters and ask them for assistance on providing these things,” he said. “Nobody really likes to go out and ask people for money.”
BUSINESS IN TUMWATER
Attracting businesses to Tumwater is important for both candidates.
Raatz said the city has “an allergic reaction” to having store sizes similar to those in Lacey and Olympia. He points to the Lacey Walmart and how it has more to offer, meaning people may choose to spend money at that store rather than at the location closer to their homes.
He also said the city is slow in clearing the way for development, which he said may be an issue when the time comes to develop the brewery site.
“The City Council and department heads have to plow the road for these guys,” he said. “(They) might have to make a decision that goes against the grain, isn’t in any plan, but it’s the only way it’s going to get done.”
Stanley said redevelopment of the brewery property – including moving forward with a proposal for LOTT Clean Water Alliance to build a facility on the site – is just one of the goals of the council. Stanley currently chairs the LOTT board.
He said that once developers emerge for the rest of the property (which the city doesn’t own), the city can be cooperative for rezoning, changing footprints, and waiving or deferring impact fees.
In order to attract those businesses, Stanley said, the city must keep impact fees low, noting that several businesses nearly decided to skip Tumwater because of impact fee increases. He said the city now will phase in impact fee increases.
“We were conscious that the impact fees were significantly higher than people were willing to pay, so we kept them low,” he said.
A LOOK AT THE CANDIDATES
DAVE RAATZ
Age: 47.
Occupation: Shop foreman/lead mechanic, Gresham Transfer Inc.
Political experience: None. Tumwater mayor candidate, 2009.
Education: Some community college, military courses.
Contact information: 360-705-3169, draatz@hotmail.com.
Campaign contributions: $2,702.78.
Major contributors: The Affordable Housing Council, $500; Gresham Transfer Inc., $200; Barney McClanahan, $200.
ED STANLEY
Age: 63.
Occupation: Social worker.
Political experience: Tumwater City Council, 1996-present; former PUD commissioner.
Education: Bachelor’s degree, Saint Martin’s University.
Contact information: 360-943-1731, ed.stanley28@gmail.com.
Campaign contributions: $4,445.
Major contributors: None listed.
Nate Hulings: 360-754-5476
nhulings@theolympian.com
www.theolympian.com/outsideoly
