Sultan council candidates Dalmasso, Wiita respond to issues

Sultan voters will soon have the opportunity to choose between two city council candidates with extremely dissimilar backgrounds.

Bart Dalmasso is a 75-year-old real estate broker, while Russell Wiita, 21, will graduate from the University of Washington this December with a bachelor's degree in political science. Both have their sights on Sultan City Council Position No. 4.

Dalmasso

Dalmasso is a lifelong Washingtonian who has lived and conducted business in the Sky Valley since the early 1980s. He served a five-year stint on Sultan's planning commission and founded two separate Toastmaster's groups; one in Monroe and another in Sultan.

Dalmasso said that if elected, his priorities would be to lower the cost of city government and settle the misappropriation of funds lawsuit of which he is a part. The lawsuit is for the good of the community as a whole, he said, not just he and the other plaintiffs. His ultimate goal is to lower the cost of living for the residents of Sultan. As a real estate broker, Dalmasso said he has watched too many families lose their homes to foreclosure over the years.

This will be Dalmasso's fourth attempt at gaining a seat on the council. He ran against Steve Slawson in 2005, Councilmember Joe Neigel in 2011 and as a write-in against Marianne Naslund in 2013. In both the 2005 and 2011 elections, Dalmasso recalled losing by a slim margin.

Sultan is no stranger to close elections. In 2013, Councilmember Rocky Walker beat Kay George by four votes. Two official recounts were held in Everett to confirm the numbers.-á

"When people think their vote doesn't count, they're wrong,GÇ¥ Dalmasso said.

Wiita

From serving as the student representative on the Sultan City Council to a policy internship in Olympia, Wiita has a diverse political background. In addition to his role as student representative, Wiita was elected class president during his junior year at Sultan High School and served on the Sky Valley Teen Court, a program founded by former Volunteers of America director Dave Wood to steer low-level offenders away from traditional criminal justice pathways.

In 2011, he joined Mayor Carolyn Eslick's blue ribbon committee to rebuild the Sultan Boys & Girls Club, which burned to the ground on Christmas Eve 2010. Wiita spearheaded a letter-writing campaign to then-Sen. Val Stevens, helping the city obtain a grant that otherwise may have ended up on the chopping block.

While a student at the University of Washington, Wiita has been involved with the Associated Students of the University of Washington, and served on the student senate. Earlier this year, he completed a four-month legislative internship in Olympia, where he worked for 39th District Reps. Dan Kristiansen and Elizabeth Scott and 15th District Rep. Dave Taylor.

"In this election, voters will decide who will make a positive impact on the Sultan community,GÇ¥ Wiita said. "I have shown a commitment to moving Sultan forward through my role as student representative on the city council and involvement with the Volunteers of America.GÇ¥

The following is a Q&A with Dalmasso and Wiita, where the Sultan candidates answered questions by the Monitor in their own words:

Why are you running for Sultan City Council? What do you hope to accomplish?

Dalmasso: I am running because I love this City. It has not only some of the best people in the world living in it; it has many wonderful recreational opportunities for all of us. It is a beautiful place to live and could be to work. Unfortunately, there are very limited opportunities to find employment in Sultan. I hope to be able to change that for the better. I also hope to find ways to lower the cost of our local government for our citizens. I will try to bring more tax paying viable businesses to our City.

Wiita: I am running for the Sultan City Council because we need a city government that represents the community and wants to continue to move Sultan forward. My experience working with the community and the city positions me well to look out for the best interests of the people of Sultan. My three biggest priorities are ensuring fiscal responsibility, improving public safety, and encouraging economic development.

How can the Sultan City Council work to facilitate increased economic vitality in Sultan? What can be done at a city level to help new bring new business?

Dalmasso: According to a college professor in a class I took years ago, residential development places more of a burden on cities services than it pays for. Whereas commercial development is just the opposite, thus lowering the cost for the residential community. We are going to have to find innovative ways to attract business. The council needs to put on its thinking caps and think of some creative ideas, to bring commercial development to our City. One such idea could be to move our commercial urban growth area to the West to be nearer to the larger population, instead of where it is away from that population. Then we could pattern our commercial development like that of a shopping center with a major retailer on each end of the development. The smaller retailers survive of off the traffic between the large retailers. Then we would have something other than nail strips to bring people into town and to spend money here. We also need to explain that we are no longer the City with the anti-growth reputation. We want to grow and be prosperous.

Wiita: I believe there are three ways the City Council can attract new businesses to Sultan. First, we need to make sure that we have safe streets. If we can reduce the level of crime in Sultan, businesses will be more inclined to locate here. Second, we need to make sure the permitting process is accountable and fair. I will make sure that we are reducing the roadblocks at city hall for businesses hoping to start in Sultan. Third, I believe the city should seriously consider another industrial park or an expansion of the current one south of the Sultan Basin Road. With our access to Highway 2 that goes to the ports and to the other side of the state, Sultan is an ideal location for manufacturing jobs. We also have lower property prices than other areas in the county which is an advantage we have in attracting business to Sultan.

There is a group of residents who feel that privatizing the city's garbage service would lead to a 50 percent cost reduction. Do you support private garbage service? Why or why not?

Dalmasso: I do support it as I have seen the published rates of the private carriers. When the law suit started they were about 1/2 of what our city charged when you add the garbage and recycling. Now the difference isn't quite so much. The city has reduced their rates by about 10 percent and changed the service to every other week to facilitate that change. 10 percent reduction in cost = 50 percent reduction in service in the City's perception. By that I mean the garbage is picked up 26 times a year, not the 52 times it was previously picked up. Now the City is spending over $20,000.00 to do a rate study, which I am sure is just an excuse to raise the rates. I encourage the citizens of Sultan to check this out for themselves. They will find our side is being truthful while the other side is misleading. Some opponents say that we would be putting some people out of work. I say that could be a part of the contract we sign with the private company that they hire our people. After all, they know the routes here.

Wiita: I do not support privatizing the garbage service at this time. The group that has been advocating for this has presented no legitimate rates that make their case. Sultan's garbage rates are comparable to other cities in rural Snohomish County. One concern I have with privatizing the garbage is the level of customer service residents get. When a resident has a concern with their service, they can go down to city hall and get it addressed quickly and easily. If the city contracted with a private garbage provider, I don't anticipate the same high level of customer service. The other consideration is the impact of worker strikes that this would have on our residents. In 2012, garbage collectors in much of Snohomish and King county walked off of the job in support of a different union which was in a contact stalemate with Waste Management. The city has a history of working well and negotiating in good faith with our employees. I would hate to see Sultan residents' garbage service impacted by outside contract negotiations.

Please comment on the current level of law enforcement in the city. Should the city council be focusing on increasing the level of public safety?

Dalmasso: I live and work in the city, and I see the Sheriffs patrolling various parts of the City almost every day. The crime rate has gone down since we hired the Sheriff. We have, I believe, one full time officer 24 hours a day and as many as 27 back up officers at any given time. I feel we have the coverage we can afford and it is good coverage. I've had occasions where I needed to call the Sheriff in the last few months and their response time was very good.

Wiita: I don't believe the number of deputies we have is the main issue with public safety. Another deputy may be beneficial but there are other things we could do to improve the safety of our residents. First, I support the idea of a prosecutor hired by the city to prosecute offenders in Sultan. One of the biggest issues we face is that the county prosecutor does not have the time to prosecute crimes in Sultan. Offenders may be arrested but in a few short days are back out on the street to commit crimes. Until we can prosecute the criminals that are picked up, another officer will not do much good in the way of reducing crime. Second, I believe we should focus our law enforcement's energy on community crimes rather than traffic infractions on the highway. I have spoken with people throughout Sultan and they don't feel the city is doing enough to combat property and drug crimes in the city. Without a prosecutor, an additional officer or a refocusing of law enforcement priorities will not solve the public safety issue in Sultan. The City Council's first priority should be finding a way to prosecute offenders in the city and I will work diligently with the rest of the Council to do that.

A current lawsuit alleges that the city misappropriated utility funds by spending the money on non-utility related items, and several candidates associated with the lawsuit are running in the current election. Should candidates with pending legal action against a municipality be allowed to run for office in that city?

Dalmasso: This affects only two of the eight candidates running for office, of which I am one.-á Doesn't a citizen have the right, guaranteed by the Constitution, to speak up when he/she feels the government is wrong? Don't we have freedom of speech? Won't we, if elected, be taking an oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States and the State of Washington? Do the people who feel that way want to deprive me and others of our rights? I believe that I, as a citizen of the State of Washington, being of legal age, a natural born citizen, and having a sound mind have the right to run for any office in the land, even President, should I desire.

Wiita: Yes. The qualifications for office should not exclude someone involved in a lawsuit against the city. Those people should have the opportunity to go in front of the voters and make their case. From there, the voters can decide which direction they would like to see the city go. With regard to my opponent and the people he has chosen to associate himself with, the voters have made that decision clear in the past. The people of Sultan do not support candidates who have been aggressive and damaging to the city. My opponent and his ideas have been in front of the voters before three times and the people of Sultan have said no every time. My opponent tried to disincorporate the city in 2011 and the people said no. He ran for city council and the people said no. He has appealed to the courts to support him and they have said no. It is time to move on from the negativity that my opponent brings to the city and continue to work to make Sultan a great place to live.

What is Sultan doing right? What do you love about the Sultan community?

Dalmasso: I'll start with what I love about Sultan. My number one love is the people who live here. They are some of the kindest warmest hearted people in the world. As an example recently when a gentleman was told he couldn't come home from the hospital until a wheelchair ramp was built on his home, the people of Sultan went to work donating materials, money and labor. One of the things Sultan is doing right is having the Sheriff's department rather than our own police department. That gives us a force we could not afford otherwise.

Wiita: They current City Council has done some great things for the people of Sultan. They have balanced the city budget for the past few years. They have paid off debt accrued from past councils. They have received funding to fix streets in town that were in desperate need of repair. My platform focuses on working on the success of the current council and taking a new, fresh approach to governance in Sultan. I will get the community involved in decision making to make sure we are doing the people's will. That's the great thing about the Sultan community; the willingness to get involved. Between the volunteers at the food bank, city volunteers, youth sports coaches, parent-teacher organization, and many others we have so many people invested in the well-being of our great community. I hope to capitalize on that involvement and bring more people and opinions into decision making in Sultan.