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Politics & Government

Who Will Be in Charge of Edmonds? Mayor and Four Council Seats Up for Grabs

Mayor Mike Cooper will run for a four-year term after being appointed in 2010. Three council incumbents will be battling to hold on to their seats, while another one, Steve Bernheim, is not on the ballot.

This week, Edmonds voters have a clearer picture of who is running for mayor and city council positions in this year’s election. Friday was the deadline for filing as a candidate.

Races that have three or more candidates will be part of a primary on Aug. 16, with the top two vote-getters on the Nov. 8 general election. Those races with two candidates will not be on the primary ballot.

Up for grabs in Edmonds are four of the seven council seats, as well as the office of the mayor. Councilmembers Michael Plunkett, Strom Peterson and Adrienne Fraley-Monillas are all currently serving terms that expire Dec. 31, 2013.

Here is a closer look at the candidates:

MAYOR (short and four-year term)
The top two vote-getters will face off in November.

Mike Cooper (incumbent)
Cooper, a former firefighter and Snohomish County councilman, was named Edmonds’ mayor in July 2010 by the Edmonds City Council. He was appointed to finish the remaining term of former Mayor Gary Haakenson through 2011 after Haakenson left to take a position as deputy for Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon.

Cooper, who recently imposed a city hiring freeze through the end of the year, has been endorsed by State Sen. Paull Shinn, Congressman Rick Larson, Sen. Maralyn Chase, Congressman Jay Inslee, Brier Mayor Bob Colinas, state Rep. Cindy Ryu, 21st LD State Rep. Marko Liias, former Edmonds City Councilwoman Deanna Dawson, and several union groups. Also endorsing Cooper are the Snohomish County Democrats and 32nd District Democrats organizations.

As mayor, Cooper says he has reduced energy costs by fighting for and approving a solar project on a city building and working with city staff to reduce energy consumption 20 percent by 2020. “These actions will save the city thousands of dollars a year in energy costs,” Cooper said.

Cooper graduated from Edmonds High School in 1970.

Dave Earling
previously spent 12 years on the Edmonds City Council, including as president, ran unsuccessfully for Snohomish County Executive and recently finished a five-year position on the Puget Sound Growth Management Hearings Board. He is president of Senior Services of Snohomish County.

Earling, who ran unsuccessfully for Snohomish County executive, has been endorsed by former Mayor Haakenson and travel guru , an Edmonds resident, among others.

“We have a city of 40,000 who have pride in our community, and feel we have a valuable quality of life worth maintaining,” Earling said. “Our citizens deserve a government that makes decisions with an eye toward the common good, which unfortunately is not what's happening now.  We need to reset the focus of city government.”
   
Roger Hertrich
Hertich, a familiar presence at council meetings, was an Edmonds councilman from 1988 to 1991. He is a board member of the South Snohomish County Senior Center. In 2010, Hertrich was one of eight candidates who ran for mayor to fill Haakenson’s vacant seat, which Cooper won in a vote by the council.

One of Hetrich’s main concerns is city salaries. “We need to tighten up departments,” he said. “We’re overstaffed in some areas, and we’re compensating people too much for the responsibilities they have.”

Hetrich also says he offers a choice for voters who may feel the race for mayor is too partisan.

CITY COUNCIL
There are seven council seats. All up for re-election this fall will be contested.

POSITION 4 (four-year short and full term)
The top two vote-getters will face off in November.

Diane Buckshnis (incumbent)
Buckshnis, a former banker and banking regulator, was appointed to fill the seat last January following the death of Councilmember Peggy Pritchard Olson in November 2009. 

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Among the plans listed on Buckshnis’ official website are stimulating the economy through fiscal responsibility and marketing tourism; requiring governmental transparency and accountability; and preserving open spaces, wetlands and views on the waterfront. She is adamantly against “tall building on the downtown waterfront area.”

Bob Wilcox
Wilcox, who is retired and former member of the Edmonds Community College Foundation, is the former co-owner of Wilcox Construction on Fifth Avenue South in Edmonds. He is a former Catholic church youth minister who also served as president of the school commission at Holy Rosary Church in Edmonds.

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“There’s too much discourse on the council,” said Wilcox. “We need a cohesive group to get things accomplished. With Wilcox Construction, we had to get things done by building consensus as a team.”

Wilcox is concerned about preservation, and was Edmonds chapter president for the nonprofit, Memphis, TN-based Ducks Unlimited, which bills itself as the world’s leader in wetlands and waterfowl conservation.

Wilcox says he’s never run for office before simply because he didn’t have time. In addition to running a business, he is a longtime Little League coach who also raised four grown children. “I’ve always been a political junkie. I’ve got a pretty good background in putting a budget together and meeting deadlines, and that’s one of the primary reasons I thought I had something to offer—a lot of experience in the business world.”

Tad Helke
Helke has been a contractor for tech companies such as Dell and Microsoft. He began as a member of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, working in local grocery stores. He served in youth leadership through his local church, and his professional career led to his position of director of technology for Olympic Retrographics for  more than five years. Currently contracting his proffessional services with Dell, he has also done work for Evault and Microsoft.

Helke said he offers a contrast in direction to current government in Edmonds. “I’m looking for helpful, aware, problem solvers in my local government,” he said. “I think the accountability falls on myself when I see that I am suited and able to fill that position.”

POSITION 5 (four-year term)

D.J. Wilson (incumbent)
Wilson, a former instructor at Edmonds Community College who now runs an Edmonds public affairs business focused on health care and environmental policy, has been on the council since 2007. He was council president in 2009. Wilson is endorsed by Mayor Cooper, Congressman Jay Inslee and Rep. Marko Liias, as well as the mayors of  Mountlake Terrace, Lake Forest Park and Bothell.
 
“Some folks think my politics are hard to place, but I’m really just trying to represent the diversity found in the people of Edmonds,” he said.
 
Among what he calls his proudest achievements was the creation of a cold weather shelter ordinance, called a model by homeless community advocates. 

Wilson is married with two children and has lived in Edmonds since 1999. 

Joan Bloom
Bloom, a community activist since 2004, has lived in Edmonds since 1985 with her husband, Gary. She runs the website Edmonds Forum, and is endorsed by former Edmonds Councilman Dave Orvis.

“I want to create an atmosphere of partnership with the citizens, and at the same time, I understand that it’s the city government’s job to make sure things get done,” said Bloom. “So there will be space for those who want to be more involved, while those too busy with other aspects of their lives will continue to have their interests represented.”

Bloom has a bachelor’s degree from Penn State University and a master’s from the University of California, Berkeley, and is the owner of Aging Well, an Edmonds business created in 2006.

Her campaign slogan is “Vote for Joan of ARC—Accountability, Responsibility and Civility.”

POSITION 6
This race features two new candidates. Incumbent Steve Bernheim did not file for re-election.

Frank Yamamoto
Yamamoto has more than 20 years of experience as a business leader, executive, and manager in the private sector. He has owned in Edmonds for almost six years.

Yamamoto, who chairs the Citizens Economic Development Commission and previously served as president of the Downtown Edmonds Merchant Association, is a board member of the Edmonds Chamber of Commerce and member of Edmonds Community College’s advisory board. Yamamoto also organizes local running events for the Waterfront Festival, Fourth of July parade and other events.

Yamamoto says he will ensure that the City Council puts the needs of residents first by prioritizing the delivery of basic services in budget decisions and seeking new opportunities such as promoting tourism as a means of generating new revenue.

Alvin Rutledge
Rutldge, another familiar face at council meetings, is a longtime candidate for office, including Edmonds City Council. Rutledge had originally intended to run for the Hospital District 2 Board, but withdrew his name before the deadline to force a primary for seat six of the city council.

He was the Kiwanis Club of Edmonds’ Seniors Man of the Year in 2002 and is a Save Our Log Cabin Committee member.

POSITION 7

Lora Petso (incumbent)
Petso, an attorney and Edmonds resident for 25 years, was appointed to the Edmonds City Council to fill the seat left vacant by the resignation of Councilmember Dave Orvis in 2010. She was also elected a councilmember and served from 2000 to 2003. She has been an official of the Olympic View Water District Commission since 1995.

She presently serves as Council President Pro Temp, Chair of the Finance Committee, and council representative to the Edmonds Center for the Arts and the Regional Fire Authority.

“I have always worked to preserve our beautiful city, including voting to acquire Marina Beach Park, creating a park trust fund for the flower program and Yost Pool, and retaining our building height limits,” said Petso. “Even during the time I was not on council, I devoted hundreds of hours to the effort to acquire and develop Hickman Park.”

Petso, co-owner of Albion Actuarial Consulting since 1990, is married to Colin Southcote-Want. They have three grown children and one grandson.

Darlene Stern
n, an Edmonds Chamber of Commerce board member and secretary of the Edmonds Police Foundation, has been in escrow management for more than 30 years.

Stern is the wife of the late David Stern, who was the Edmonds police chief and the Chamber of Commerce president. He died unexpectedly four years ago from a brain aneurysm.

Stern's own resume includes a 32-year management career in the escrow field. She  is also currently a director of the Greater Edmonds Chamber of Commerce and secretary of the Edmonds Police Foundation.

Stern said she believes she can help the City Council negotiate difficult budget issues.

“With major budget and infrastructure problems facing Edmonds, we need councilmembers who will put aside the trivial issues and focus on solving the big ones,” Stern said. “That is precisely what I intend to do.”

To vote in the next election, you must register at least 30 days before Election Day. To register online, or for more information, go to the Washington Secretary of State webpage.

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