By Pat Jenkins
The Dispatch
Depending on where they live, voters in south Pierce County will have a
say in fire district levies and choose elected leaders of those districts when voting begins next week in the general election.
The local voters will also join the rest of the county in deciding races for Tacoma Port Commissioner and whether the way certain county officials take and hold office should change.
In some other cases, a scarcity of candidates will make the choices easy for openings for Eatonville’s mayor and Town Council, Bethel School Board, Eatonville School Board and Ashford Water Commissioner, plus one Graham Fire Commissioner. Each of the offices have only one candidate.
The county elections department will mail ballots to voters on Oct. 20. Voting will end Nov. 7, the last day ballots can be returned by mail or via official dropboxes.
Here’s a rundown of what and who is on the ballot and who can vote for what:
Fire levies
In the service areas of South Pierce Fire and Rescue (Clear Lake, Ohop Lake, La Grande, Roy, Lacamas, Harts Lake and McKenna) and Graham Fire and Rescue (all or parts of Graham, Kapowsin, Frederickson and South Hill), voters are being asked to approve separate six-year levies.
Supporters of the levy for South Pierce, which serves an area of 138 square miles, say the proposition, if approved, would maintain the current level of fire protection, fire prevention and rescue services at the levy rate of $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed valuation districtwide.
The measure also calls for an annual increase in the levy dollar amount of up to 6 percent of assessed valuation for the years 2018 through 2023. If the measure passes, the current level of service will continue; if it fails, service could diminish as the district loses revenue.
According to the South Pierce levy backers, passage of the measure would
add $28.27 a year to the property-tax bill for a home valued at $300,000, for example.
In the Graham Fire and Rescue district, not passing that district’s levy could result in reduced service and slower responses to emergencies, according to district commissioners who placed the measure on the ballot.
Levy supporters note that Proposition 1 isn’t a new tax, but would continue an existing levy that covers the costs of personnel, training and equipment. They estimate the 2018 tax rate would be $1.38 per $1,000
of assessed valuation of property in the district. That would amount to an increase of $34.50 annually on a $300,000 home.
The maximum tax rate allowed under state law is $1.50 per $1,000.
Graham Fire serves a population of approximately 60,000 people in 90 square miles of unincorporated Pierce County.
Fire commissioners
At the same time voters in the fire districts are weighing in on levy requests, they’ll also be making choices for fire commissioners.
Gerry Gustafson, a commissioner for Graham Fire and Rescue for 24 years,
is seeking re-election. His opponent is Jacob Koukel, a Navy veteran who works in the fire alarm industry. He’s never held elected office.
A second Graham commissioner seat is also on the ballot but has only Gina Blanchard-Reed as a candidate. She was appointed last year to one of the two new positionsthat were added after voters authorized expanding the number of commissioners from three to five.
South Pierce Fire has two contested races for commissioner: Incumbent Kevin Kneeshaw against Yanah Cook for Position 3, and Jody Westing versus Alan Simmons for Position 4.
Westing, a nurse supervisor for CHI Franciscan Health, and Simmons, a retired fire service professional, advanced to the general election after finishing ahead of incumbent Daniel Morris in the primary election in August.
Port Commission
At stake are three spots on the five-member commission that is the legislative arm of the Port of Tacoma. The port collects property taxes throughout Pierce County and is a source of economic development and business for the county and Washington.
John McCarthy, a former District Court and Superior Court judgeand husband of former county executive Pat McCarthy (now the state auditor), is trying to return to the Port Commission. He was a member for nine years before becoming a judge.
His opponent is Eric Holdeman, who has run previously for the commission. He once worked for the port as its security director. The former Army officer now is director of Pacific Northwest Economic Region Center for Regional Disaster Resilience, which works with governments on projects related to emergency preparedness and response.
The winner between McCarthy and Holdeman, who emerged from a three-candidate primary election last summer, will replace Connie Bacon, who isn’t seeking re-election.
In the other port commissioner races:
• Incumbent Dick Marzano, an ex-president of the local longshoreman’s union and a former leader of the Washington Public Ports Association, is being challenged by Noah Davis, a lawyer who contends the port should be more of a leader in air-quality issues related to port industries.
• Don Meyer, a commissioner since 2010, a former deputy director of the state Office of Financial Management, and a small-business owner, is opposed by Kristin Ang, an attorney who is a first-time candidate for public office.
County charter changes
Pierce County’s home rule charter is the governing document – similar to a constitution – for county government. The charter can be changed through amendments on which voters have the final say. For this general election, the County Council placed two proposed amendments on the ballot. One would affect the way partisan county offices are filled by appointment, and the other would increase the number of years that council members can be in office.
• Amendment 46 would require that any partisan county office – currently the council, the county executive and prosecuting attorney – that becomes vacant between elections would have to be filled with one of three people nominated by the political party that was represented by the departed officeholder. Applications to be considered for nomination would be open to the public, but the party would choose the nominees. The council would then pick one of them for the appointment.
When voters approved the original county charter in 1980, all county offices were partisan. Since then, sheriff, auditor and assessor-treasurer have been changed to non-partisan posts. Under the proposed charter amendment, those offices wouldn’t be limited to political party nominations if an appointment became necessary.
• Amendment 47 would increase the maximum number of four-year terms per council member to two. Currently, council members are limited to two terms. Allowing three would make the council term limit the same category as sheriff, assessor-treasurer and auditor.
Council members made no public comments when they approved this proposed amendment for the ballot. Opponents of the proposal, however, have said it’s self-serving.
Time spent in office before Jan. 1, 2019 would count as part of the new limit if a three-term maximum is approved by voters. That would apply to all seven current council members. Some of them are on their second terms.
No contests
The Town of Eatonville, Ashford Water District, Bethel School Board, Eatonville School Board and Ashford Water District have no contests for their offices that are on the ballot. Instead, each one has a single candidate. All of them are incumbents.
In Eatonville, Mayor Mike Schaub and Town Council members Jennifer Hannah, Bob Walter and William Dunn are assured of remaining in office. It will be the second four-year term for Schaub, who previously was the town’s treasurer, and for Walter. Hannah and Dunn are being elected for the first time. They were appointed to council vacancies last year.
Warren Smith, a Bethel board fixture for 19 years, and fellow board member Stanley Chapin (six years) originally each had one opponent after candidate filing in May. Their opponents later withdrew, however.
Running solo for Eatonville School Board are incumbent Ronda Litzenberger, who has held the office for nine years, and Annaliza Klumpar, who was appointed last year.
Ashford Water Commissioners Richard Johnson and Ryan Mettler also are unopposed.
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