Current Issues Q&A
What is the biggest concern/issue in Sumner? What is a solution for that problem and what will you do during your term as mayor/councilmember to promote the solution?
Besides flooding, I think density and traffic (which are linked). I will do everything I can to avoid being overrun by trucks and cars. I lead Council on removing truck routes from our city streets and building sidewalks. I will support lower density and improve traffic flow. This improves our quality of life, stabilizes home turnover, promotes families, and neighborhoods, and home values. As mayor, I will not promote any policy that increases density or traffic in any way. Sumner has enough to handle from outside pressure without becoming our own worst enemy. Sumners way of life must be preserved.
How do you feel about the manufacturing/industrial center (MIC) plans for Sumner? Do you think that it will take Sumner's inevitable growth in the right direction or the wrong direction--why?
This is completely the wrong direction for Sumner. MIC zones are unrestricted manufacturing areas with more than 2,000 trucks per day, a 20% maximum for retail, (which limits tax revenue to the city), and all the funding from federal sources are earmarked for the buildup of the MIC. Mr. Enslows proposal was for 2,200 acres of Sumner (Elm Street to Auburn) to be generally MIC. Other MICs in Washington are the Ports of Seattle, Tacoma, Everett, Frederickson, and Tukwila. This encompasses the trail, golf course, the river, and homes. This would not promote our quality of life in any way.
Thoughts on the Sounder parking issue and the related traffic/parking issue in downtown Sumner? Sumner needs more parking--what do you think is the solution? What will you do to promote that solution?
A regional parking garage should be near the Shaw Road extension, between Puyallup and Sumner, not the middle of downtown. This alternative site is 8 blocks from the station on the same side of the street, and could be supported with shuttle vans like in other cities. Downtown garages fill up and take away valuable retail and living space. The progressive and balanced solution is a larger regional garage that can service customers well into the future, without impacting the streets our residents rely on to get through town. I will work with Sound Transit to achieve this reasonable compromise.
Do you think the city of Sumner can continue operating fully even with the budget cuts? How?
Yes, for the time being. State law requires a balanced budget so that's a guarantee. If the economy goes deeper into recession the city budget will be affected accordingly. This is the time to be cautious, but not blind to good opportunities and common sense. Cutting staff seems to be the first thing people do, but all too often, it's wasteful spending that needs the axe. I will be more creative in finding other areas to trim without sacrificing staff and programs that citizens really need and want to keep. Better use of volunteers and interns may be an option.
How do you feel about the concerned residents of Sumner, especially those in Rainier Manor, and their quest to build a flood wall? What, if anything, will you do to support them?
When any city is faced with repeated natural disasters, like 3 100-year floods in 12 years, it has to be the first priority of any mayor. Based on the findings of the PCRRTF, I will pursue the following solutions as mayor.
•Creation of a combined city-county Flood Control District (FCD)
•Sediment Removal (where possible)
•Above Surface Bar Removal (ASBR) (where possible)
•Support all sediment management reforms for the improvement human safety and fish/wild life habitats
•Help county reform appraisal process on red-tagged properties
•Flood walls (even though city/county applications are dependent on state/federal funding)
What is Sumner's greatest asset? How can the city use this to benefit, either through tourism, financially or any other way?
I believe what makes Sumner a great place to visit, is the same as what makes it a great place to live. That strength is our family and neighborhood character, which includes downtown. If downtowns are neglected and left to die, neighborhoods will eventually follow. Sumner cant afford to take that chance. Our downtown must be supported and revitalized for the sake of the whole city. There is more to Sumner than the 410 interchange area and MIC zone overlays to north Sumner. Its time to build on what we have, not sell ourselves out to the whims of industrial developers.
