Election 2025: 3 questions for Lacey City Council candidates

The Lacey City Council race is a crowded race.

It features six candidates total, four of whom are completely new to the process.

Incumbent Robin Vazquez chose not to run for re-election so auctioneer Charles Beck and gerontologist Maren Turner are competing for her Position 4 seat on the council.

Incumbent Michael Steadman chose not to defend his Position 6 seat, but instead decided to challenge incumbent Carolyn Cox for the Position 7 seat. That left the door open for banker Evette Temple and program analyst Ryan Siu to seek Steadman’s old seat.

Longtime council member and Mayor Andy Ryder is running unopposed for his Position 5 seat.

The Olympian asked three questions of the candidates as the Nov. 4 general election approaches. Here’s what they had to say.

In light of the Metropolitan Park District failure, what’s the best way to fund city parks in the future?

Charles Beck, Position 4: Parks should be funded by the existing budget. Raising taxes, especially property taxes, is not the answer. Lacey voters have twice rejected the idea of creating a Metropolitan Park District. This year, I was part of the committee who wrote the ballot statement against Proposition 1 which would have created a Metropolitan Park District and would have raised the property taxes on an average home in Lacey $225 per year. It’s time for the council to stop asking the voters to increase taxes and come up with ways to fund parks through the existing budget.

Maren Turner, Position 4: Going forward, the council needs to figure out the most important things to pay for in our city parks — like more restrooms, better trails, playground equipment, or needed repairs. We should continue seeking funding for these projects through partnerships, grants, and donors, one project at a time. People in the community can help by sharing ideas and voting on any plans to raise taxes, just like we did in August.

Parks are an important part of what makes Lacey special — places where families come together, kids have fun, and neighbors meet. To keep these spaces nice and open for everyone, we need to make sure we have enough money to fix what’s wearing out and meet the needs of our growing city. I will advocate for a practical, step-by-step approach that protects public dollars while keeping parks safe, welcoming, and well cared for — now and for future generations.

Ryan Siu, Position 6: Parks will continue to be funded out of the city’s general fund but improvements and expansion of park facilities may be delayed. In order to fund the expansion and upgrades, the city can look to grants and private donors to accomplish these goals. A couple of projects that will be completed with the support of private groups are equipment replacement at William Bush Park and upgrades at Rainier Vista.

The parks have been one of the most highly rated aspects of Lacey, and they must be funded to continue to be a resource for all of those within the city. I would like to see the city revisit creating a Metropolitan Park District so that there can be dedicated funding for parks. We can make sure that we have a diverse committee of community stakeholders that can study and assess the issues to help guide the project to fruition.

Evette Temple, Position 6: I love this question because I was actually on the Metropolitan Park District committee. I’m glad that it went to the voters to decide, and they made up their minds. I wish we had waited until the economy was in a better place. Thankfully, the MPD was for new projects so it won’t really affect the current level of parks maintenance. Lacey is known for having great parks and a great parks team. The budget will be a little tighter for a couple of years, but I expect with the right fiscal planning we will be in position to do some great things with our future parks planning. Plus we have the Regional Athletic Complex phase three already budgeted for so we will still be adding to our parks very soon.

Carolyn Cox, Position 7: Beautiful parks enhance the quality of life for Lacey residents and visitors. To develop new facilities and maintain them will require tapping a mix of private and public sector sources. They include community foundation and government grants, fund-raising campaigns directed toward major donors, businesses and individual contributors, endowment funds, fund-raising events, working with civic groups willing to help pay for improvements like playground equipment, and other activities. We’ll need a careful balance between adding new features, such as developing phases 2 and 3 at the 500-acre Greg Cuoio Park in northeast Lacey, and reserving funds to maintain them.

Michael Steadman, Position 7: I think the people spoke loud and clear after what is now the second straight failed ballot measure for parks. So going forward we need to maintain what we have and be more efficient. We always ask our residents to do more when they have less, so in return we will need to look at any means necessary to maintain what we have. If that doesn’t work, then a reduction of services will likely be the answer. Nobody likes that but it’s the hard reality. I’d encourage our residents to shop at home like we did during the pandemic. The budget shortfall everyone thought was coming didn’t because I kept telling people if you’re forced to stay home, the money you did spend would stay here and impact us all positively.

The city is forecasting a preliminary general fund deficit of $2.7 million. How would you address that shortfall?

Beck: The first thing the council should consider is what are the priorities of city government. The council should then adopt a ‘zero-based’ budgeting process. We need to prioritize the city’s funding needs starting with basic services such as police and roads. I would like to see an audit of existing expenditures, and then we should ‘scrub’ the budget looking for efficiencies. The council needs to realize they are spending the taxpayers’ money and should be reasonable in the budgeting decisions they make.

Turner: I will advocate for diversifying our funding, including attracting new businesses and growing popular events like the Night Market because they bring fresh energy and boost our local economy. Trying new ideas like pop-up/temporary shops can keep things exciting and help our community grow.

We need to protect the services and places our community depends on while also planning carefully for the future. That means making tough choices and taking good care of what we have now while welcoming new ideas. We should also carefully study where money was spent more or less than expected, so we can plan smarter budgets going forward. The council must keep sharing clear budget information and invite everyone in the community to be part of these important decisions.

Siu: At recent work sessions I have heard the current council and the financial planners work on this issue. The city can implement fees for some services that help cover the cost of the labor for those services. Additionally, the city can work at attracting new businesses to Lacey which would expand the current tax base. However, our reliance on sales tax in the state of Washington is regressive and disproportionally burdens those with lower incomes. We will need to work with our representatives at the state level in order to find more equitable ways to increase revenue. When inflation outpaces our ability to grow revenue, city services that people rely on end up being cut which harms our residents.

Temple: Lacey has always been known in the region for being very good financially, and we are in much better shape then our peers. I think the public clearly showed with their vote on the Metropolitan Park District that they don’t want any new taxes. The first thing we need to do is see what projects we can push until a later date. The second thing is we need to really drive new businesses into Lacey. I’ve helped entrepreneurs start new businesses for over 20 years in our community and this will be essential in increasing our overall tax base. And lastly, and only if necessary, we should do a hiring freeze or potential staff cuts. I do think this is a last resort because the citizens of Lacey expect a certain level of service, and we already do more with fewer people than our neighbors.

Cox: I am less worried about the 2026 budget than I am about a funding gap expected to widen to $9 million by 2030. The city manager worked with senior staff to find almost $1 million in savings this year. The remaining gap can be offset with a mix of reserve funds, delayed purchases, and a few new revenue options, such as gambling tax. I support staff’s recommendation that we shift from building new facilities to focusing on maintenance and updates to existing buildings, including the Community Center, Senior Center, and City Hall. The picture gets bleaker in 2027 and beyond. City revenue is expected to be flat and costs for labor, equipment and supplies are soaring. City Council members will have to make some difficult choices down the line.

Steadman: I’ve already suggested a few things to our council. Starting with: give notice to our garbage service contractor. It will take time, but like in the county when I spearheaded the competitive bid process for their solid waste contract, it saved $4M over the first 10 years, totaling $40M in all, and every dime was a savings to the ratepayer! I specifically remember saying not to wait until hard times to make good decisions.

I remind the council, city manager, staff and city residents every year, multiple times, and still can’t get four votes to pass it. There’s been several other ways to save that have also fallen on deaf ears to the detriment of the ratepayer. Ultimately, it’s us seven council members playing politics when it ultimately costs the resident who’s footing the bill. So we can give notice tomorrow if we want to. It’s a simple letter that literally would take 10 minutes to write. Still nothing.

Only about 10% of residents participated in a recent city survey. How would you help people become more engaged?

Beck: With only 10 percent of the residents responding to the community survey, I would examine how were residents contacted for the survey. I don’t recall receiving anything about it. Also, I would look at how the survey was written. Did some people not respond to the survey because they found it to be overly complicated and too wordy? Also, how do professionals in the field feel about the response rate? Is a ten percent response considered to be a low or a normal response rate? Assume a ten percent response rate is low, then one suggestion is the residents should have been given more notification about the survey before receiving the actual survey. Another suggestion is also try to involve community groups such as service clubs to generate more interest in a survey. Finally, the schools should be contacted to notify parents of the survey.

Turner: I think too many Lacey residents feel disconnected from city decisions — not because they don’t care, but because they haven’t been invited in. I propose three powerful steps: First, go to where people are by moving City Council meetings around Lacey — into schools, community centers, and neighborhoods — once a quarter. Meeting residents where they are makes engagement more accessible and personal.

Second, place simple feedback stations in everyday places like grocery stores, post offices, and libraries, asking one clear question about a current issue. Staff or volunteers will collect responses to inform decision-making. Third, to make engagement fun, set up a contest where kids from local schools call in with ideas or questions for the council. Families and classmates will be encouraged to watch council meetings and vote on the best question asked. The Youth Council could take this on annually to expand outreach among peers and their families.

Siu: Surveys can be a useful way to get data when administered well with a representative sample of the population, but they are less effective at getting people more engaged with city decisions. We can increase involvement by meeting people where they are. I’d like to see us do quarterly town hall-style events where we can have conversations with the residents and provide childcare to help families attend. I have made meeting people a priority in my campaign by going door to door every week to hear from residents directly. Not every conversation is easy, but I learn something from each interaction. Before making decisions, I think it is important to talk to people with diverse views and to hear from people most impacted by those decisions. It is critical to have many different viewpoints on city council because we all experience and interact with the city in different ways.

Temple: The first thing we have to do is meet people where they are at. If you’re like me, I get really tired of junk mail so a lot of times I just toss it in the trash. We need to adapt to new technologies and have a bigger variety of ways to engage. We should do a combination of phone, email, web, and in person surveys in order to get perspective on the different ways people like to communicate. So to answer your question directly, I don’t blame the residents on this one. I think we need to do a better job as a city of meeting people where they are at.

Cox: Our staff does a great job of engaging residents at community events with fun and inviting exhibits and activities. We also hold occasional open house informational sessions. All of that is good, but how many of us would willingly go to a City Council meeting? Very few, and usually only when there’s an agenda item they care about. Why is that? I suspect many residents find government meetings boring, or they may think staff and council members don’t care about what they have to say. I do care, and I want every resident to feel welcome and heard. I’m willing to explore reviving Council on the Road meetings when we have business of interest to certain parts of the city. I’ll also advocate for translating meeting materials into the most commonly spoken languages in Lacey.

Steadman: We need to go back out to the community like we did with the Council on the Road campaign we did several years back. That, like the Veterans HUB, was another idea of mine we used that was successful and for some reason we stopped doing it. The last time we did something similar was the joint meeting with the North Thurston school board at River Ridge High School. They remembered my on-the-road meetings idea, and they used it to their advantage.

This story was originally published October 18, 2025 at 5:00 AM.