Council candidates debate bag ban at forum

Lacey’s plastic bag ban reared its head during a Lacey City Council candidate forum on Wednesday, with both candidates touching on the much-discussed subject during an hourlong forum before a gathering of Rotarians.

Three Lacey City Council members are up for election this fall, but only Jeff Gadman, who is seeking a third term on the council, attracted an opponent. That’s Bill Frare, 51, who works for the state Department of Enterprise Services.

Gadman has worked for the Thurston County Assessor’s Office since 1986.

Former Olympia Mayor Doug Mah moderated the forum, in which each candidate began with an opening statement, fielded questions submitted by members of Gateway Rotary, then asked questions of each other and made closing remarks.

It didn’t take long for the city’s plastic bag ban to come up: Frare made it part of his opening statement, saying he believes in accountable government and that the council needs to listen to its constituents. Frare said he would have voted to put the bag ban issue before Lacey voters, instead of having the council act independently.

“I think they should be listening to the city,” he said about the council.

Gadman, in response to a Rotarian’s question about the bag ban, said he awaits the results of Thurston County’s survey on the issue in June 2016.

“I have already pledged to abide by whatever results come out of that survey,” he said.

The bag ban — which also is in effect in Olympia, Tumwater and unincorporated Thurston County — has had a tortured existence in Lacey.

Lacey City Council approved the bag ban in early 2014, and it has withstood two challenges to that vote since then. Councilman Lenny Greenstein recently made a motion to put the issue before voters after a county survey showed that 57 percent of the 1,365 Lacey residents polled did not support the ban. However, his motion ultimately failed.

Then a local political action committee said they would pay to put the bag ban before voters, but the council once again upheld it. Gadman has voted in favor of the ban each time.

Frare asked Gadman a bag ban-related question as well: Based on his decision not to put the ban before voters, would he support raising taxes without a vote of the people?

Gadman reiterated his position that he will abide by the results of the next survey. As for raising taxes, that falls within a council’s authority, he said, but it also depends on the situation —whether it’s raising taxes to protect city jobs, such as police department positions, or simply to raise revenue.

“I don’t agree with that at all,” said Gadman about raising taxes simply for more revenue.

Gadman so far has raised about $8,500 for his campaign, according to state Public Disclosure Commission data. His top cash contributor is a group called Progress for Public Safety.

Frare is right behind Gadman, raising about $7,400 to date, PDC data show. His top cash contributor is the Thurston County Republican Party.

This story was originally published September 2, 2015 at 1:31 PM with the headline "Council candidates debate bag ban at forum."