House minority leader defending 39th District seat ­— again

Kristiansen lays out why he should stay, Wright on why she should be next state representative.

Residents of the 39th Legislative District will have some decisions to make this election, as they vote on who will represent them in the House of Representatives for the next two years.

Washington is broken up into a total of 49 legislative districts, each with two elected representatives. State representatives serve two-year terms, and are paid an annual salary of $45,474. In the 39th District, which encompasses most of Snohomish and Skagit counties plus a small slice of King County, Minority House Leader Dan Kristiansen has held the Position 1 Representative seat since 2003. This year, Kristiansen, a Republican from the Monroe area, is being challenged by political newcomer Linda Wright, a Democrat from the Arlington area. 

Wright, a lifelong Washington resident, has four children and 10 grandchildren. This is Wright’s second attempt at unseating Kristiansen, the first in 2012. Wright is a union representative for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 925, an educational workers union. Over the years she has been a small business owner, including operating a gas station, grocery store and a construction company.

She served for eight years as a school bus driver for the Marysville School District and has managed two restaurants. Her community service includes fundraising for the Red Cross and for victims of the Oso landslide.

According to Wright’s website, fully funding education is one of her top priorities. She also wants to be an advocate for seniors, veterans and the disabled.

Kristiansen, a Monroe-area resident for more than 25 years, has been a small business owner for nearly 30 years. During his time as a representative, Kristiansen has been the primary sponsor on legislation that holds people accountable for criminal conduct while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, helps provide tuition waivers for war veterans and prioritizes transportation funding to U.S. 2.
He was given the opportunity to serve as the House Minority Leader in 2013, which meant a shift in his responsibilities. As the minority leader, Kristiansen’s time in Olympia is spent negotiating issues pertaining to the budget as a whole, rather than pushing individual pieces of legislation. He serves as the lead negotiator for the Republican caucus, working closely with the speaker of the house, senate leaders and the governor’s office.

Candidate answers are listed in order of when they were received, were submitted in writing and have not been edited.

Why are you running for 39th District Representative?

Wright: The incumbent has been in office for 14 years, and I believe I can bring fresh new ideas to the office. I am not a career politician. I will bring my life’s experience to the table as a small business owner and my experience as a Union Organizer where I negotiate school district and local government contracts. As a caregiver to aging parents living with us I understand the needs of families and caregivers as I do the work every day. I understand firsthand the struggles they face. I want to help make our State a better place for working class families, with living wages, benefits and a good retirement. I will protect collective bargaining — safeguard Social Security & Medicare. Work to develop clean energy jobs and keep the revenue in our State.
Kristiansen: Let’s make Washington the best place to live, work and do business. That means improving government services, a simpler tax structure with low taxes, reducing costs of workers’ compensation and unemployment insurance, cutting excessive regulations and fostering private-sector job creation. As a native of Snohomish County I have a lifelong understanding of our local strengths and challenges. I ask for your support for a better future for our families and our state.

In the legislature’s 2015 transportation package, $10 million was allocated for preliminary engineering on S.R. 522. For commuters dealing with severe congestion in the bottleneck between Paradise Lake Road and the Snohomish River Bridge every day, this level of funding is inadequate. Recognizing that the needed improvements fall inside District 1, how can District 39 work collaboratively with District 1 to help S.R. 522 become safer and less congested in the meantime?
(This question acknowledges the fact that last year during the supplemental transportation process, an allotment of funds was provided to the WSDOT’s corridor sketch program, with priority given to S.R. 522. Unfortunately, the program doesn’t include design work – only further performance-based planning and review.)

Wright: Get back to the table and negotiate a reasonable process and commitment from all parties to accomplish this issue. We need to look at the tolls on 405 and the congestion it has created. Which has diverted more and more traffic to S.R.522 causing part of the congestion. We have to be careful of unintended consequences.  And when we ask the voters to approve funds for transportation projects we have to be good stewards of their money. Accountability, rebuilding trust, voters lack confidence in our legislature in Olympia. When we negotiated a tax cut for Boeing it should have had teeth in it and language preventing them from moving jobs out of our state. We can’t afford these kinds of mistakes.
Kristiansen: The portions of Highway 522 that have not been expanded reside outside of our 39th Legislative District and until recently have not been a priority of the legislators in our neighboring 1st District. This past year however, I have helped to build a large network of support for this project working not only with our local government officials but also our first responders, schools, businesses and citizens from Monroe to Bothell, chairs of the transportation committees in the house and senate along with the legislators of the 1st District. I will continue to make this a priority to build a coalition of broad support to gain funding to finish this project.

How can the state legislature better support small business owners in Monroe and the greater Sky Valley area?

Wright: Address the traffic congestion first and foremost it has been this way far too long.  Fix tax codes make sure banks are lending capitol. Stop predatory lending practices. Create tax incentives for small business. Adjust the L&I rates and B & O taxes for small business. I created and owned eight small businesses over a 30-year period and I understand the struggles and red tape small businesses face. We must work with local government in our cities to prioritize and simplify the permitting processes. Small business does not get the tax breaks large corporations do and all of our cities need and should support our small business owners. We can’t balance the budget on the backs of the working class.
Kristiansen: The business priorities of the legislature over the last several years has been focused on not only big business and industry but also our largest cities. That has proven to be great for specific industries and our large metropolitan areas but has been detrimental to our rural communities. Just over a year ago I worked with several of my legislative colleagues to pass a “pilot project” bill that gives incentives to some of our rural communities for the purpose of attracting, expanding and retaining employment in our rural areas. So far the “pilot project” looks promising and if proven successful, will not only be able to expand here in the Sky Valley but also to rural communities around the state. Rural economic development is gaining traction along with reforms for small business that will help us compete with our larger cities for jobs staying here in our neighborhoods.

What can be done at the state level to address Snohomish County’s heroin epidemic?

Wright: Partner with local groups and government working together creating a central location for treatment, recovery, housing, medical care and job training. We don’t have enough beds and the waiting lists are so long. We must fund these programs and address the homeless issue in our State. A person who may want help falls into the quick sand of a broken system that fails them. We spend tax dollars with the rise of crime and court fees, unpaid hospital expenses that only drives up the cost for everyone else. The system appears to not work. Let’s look at the successes of other states like Texas and restructure for success.
Kristiansen: Heroin is a terrible drug that rips lives and families apart. It was only a few years ago that “meth” was the cheap drug of choice. As a state, we worked with law enforcement, citizens, our county and city officials, Health departments, Pharmacists, etc. to come up with both state and local ideas to help combat the meth issue. We are faced with a similar challenge now and it is very difficult and dangerous but we will continue to work toward solutions. When you hear about the growing homeless population, mental illness challenges or crime rate increases, many of the people we are talking about are strung out on Heroin and other drugs.

What is the bill you most look forward to crafting?

Wright: First and foremost, I want to get there. The bills will come once I arrive and work with other legislators on issues. I suspect fully funding education will be on the top of the list, and will require most of all legislators’ time this session.
Kristiansen: I truly am not looking forward to crafting any new laws. I believe we have plenty of laws on the books that are all too often not enforced properly. I am however looking forward to working with the citizens of our 39th District to help them in the challenges they face where State Government can serve the people. I have found that most of the time a new law is not necessary to solve most of the challenges but instead, bringing together citizens and Government to work together respectfully can solve most of the challenges. It’s also important to note that just introducing a bill with no promise of it even becoming a law costs the tax payers thousands of dollars.

For more information about Wright, visit electlindawright2016.com. For more information about Kristiansen, visit dankristiansen.org.