Enumclaw Candidates Square off at Thursday Forum

Between 70 and 80 people turned out for a candidate forum at the Glacier Middle School Annex in Buckley Thursday night, which was sponsored by The Courier-Herald and included time to hear from both sets of candidates from Enumclaw's two contested races: City Council Position No. 2 and School Board Position No. 4.

The format allowed for audience members to submit questions which were then read by moderator Brennan Purtzer, publisher of The Courier-Herald.

The Agreeable Candidates

and , who are facing each other in the school board election, started the evening and revisited several the issues they discussed last week during a meeting with the Thunder Mountain Middle School PTSO, including improvements they believe is needed in the district and how they view growth. (Read from the PTSO meeting.) 

Both believed the district could improve its communication with various entities in the community. McGann suggested better connections with groups like the Lions Club, Enumclaw Kiwanis and the Chamber of Commerce. Peterson offered possible mobile school board meetings to better engage the community.

Neither believed a shorter school year was a good solution to budget shortfalls, and both have had experience working with budgets in their business lives

If confronted by an irate parent who wanted action taken against a teacher, both would listen to the parent but direct them back to the school district to ensure their complaint was handled through the proper channels.

And both McGann and Peterson believed the school district on the whole was doing a good job of preparing students, lauding the assessment programs as an example of not letting a child slip through the cracks. 

A point of difference came when asked if there was something they'd improve:

• Peterson: "We can always do more ... but I'm not aware of any glaring problems."
• McGann: After applauding past efforts to ramp up math and literacy scores, "Science."

From the Inside vs. the Outside

After a quick break, things heated up when City Council incumbent was joined by challenger on the stage.

Questions from the audience covered a variety of topics from local gas to downtown revitalization -- from budgets to Pete's Pool. 

Dickson was quick on the offensive, pointing out the city went overbudget with the sewer treatment plant, which was while Elfers held the office. Additionally, the council hasn't done a good job of listening to its citizens and particularly its boards and commissions, he said, and the Expo Center is a symptom of this.

Staff and a three-person parks board are running it like a business, but it's been a financial disaster with no clear vision for how it should be used, Dickson said. 

When the topic of social services came up, Dickson pointed out that in last year's budget session, Elfers had voted down funding for several agencies including the Enumclaw Youth and Family Services and Plateau Outreach Ministries. 

Elfers countered that the council was forced to raise the budget for the sewer treatment plant with city administration reported that costs were 55 percent over initial estimate.

He believes conflict is part of the process of governing and that relationships are generally good with city government. Nonetheless, it's always important to listen to the opposing viewpoint.

And while for billing several social services agencies as 'outside agencies,' Elfers said this is one of the tough parts of city government to have to decide what the role of a city is -- fund one of these agencies or pay for a new police officer position? Fix a torn up street?

The city's budget crunch is part of the reason why the it voted earlier this year to to build a park & ride facility with the Enumclaw Welcome Center that would have provided parking for visitors and shuttle services to nearby recreational destinations at Mount Rainier, Elfers said in response to Dickson's lamenting it was a lost opportunity for the city.

Accepting the grant would have included a $285,000 match from the city, and the city didn't have that money, Elfers said.

Then why support the purchase of land to build a park downtown, challenged Dickson, when money is this tight?

To help enhance downtown revitalization, answered Elfers, as it will invite people downtown to shop, eat and support the local economy. Funding for the land purchase would have come from a fund outside of the city's general fund which would not have been used for anything else besides property. It would have been an investment to protect the asset, he said.

Elfers didn't stay on the defensive, however.

Early on, he questioned Dickson's private interests in the city and used his property across from the Field House as an example of when there might be a conflict of interest.

Also, "Darrel doesn't understand how government works," he repeated when addressing Dickson's finger-pointing of bad financial management, not listening to constituents and seemingly unfair taxation on the part of the council.

The state requires that cities have a balanced budget, Elfers concluded. "Everybody is doing the best job they can," he said. "I like the direction the city is going in in very difficult times. It's easy to talk -- not so easy to be there and make the decisions."

More Common Ground

Both men agreed it was important to make Enumclaw a destination for visitors and in particular, travelers coming and going from Mount Rainier. 

Elfers believes part of the conflict is how to let Enumclaw retain its charm but also serve people in the community with an anchor store -- a destination for shoppers.

A downtown park would also have been a good way to draw foot traffic onto Cole Street, he said. 

Dickson said the city needs better signage. More importantly, it needs to build better relationships with the business community -- that unnecessary regulations discourage growth and the city needs to look for alternative ways to fund services that are important for the community.

The Enumclaw Street Fair and Mutual of Enumclaw Stage Race are two good examples of things the city should do more of and that local businesses and non-profits should work toward as well, he said. 

Elsewhere in Elections Coverage

• For those interested in the Black Diamond Council forum Thursday, The Reporter provided live updates and the transcript of the event is still available on their website. Click here to view.
• The city of Enumclaw will have video from Thursday's forum on its website soon. 
• All four Enumclaw candidates as well as those running unopposed: , , , April Schroeder, Corey Cassell, and David Hannity have been invited to a second forum sponsored by the Enumclaw Chamber of Commerce that takes place on Tuesday, October 18 at 7:30 a.m. at the Green River Community College Enumclaw Campus. .