Jeans and Yanez compete for Snoqualmie City Council position – Bob Jeans

Published 10:43 am Thursday, October 2, 2008

Background

Born and raised in a small town in California, Jeans came to the Northwest more than 25 years ago. He attended Linfield College in Oregon and Hastings College of Law in San Francisco. He moved to Snoqualmie four years ago with his wife of 37 years, Linda, after living in Issaquah. Together they have two grown children; a son who has lived in Snoqualmie with his family for the past seven years, and a daughter who will move to the area with her husband early next year.

Jeans, a structured settlement broker for the past 18 years who works from home, is the current president of the Tanner Jeans Memorial Foundation, an organization dedicated to the children of the Valley. For the past two years, Jeans has worked with the City Council, as well as with the school district, and the city’s police and parks departments, to develop various youth-oriented activities including a “Lunch Buddy” mentoring program for Snoqualmie Elementary School, the development of Tanner Field and last year’s Bicycle Safety Rodeo.

Jeans did not have plans to be in politics, but a few months ago, several people in the community approached him with the suggestion that he run for City Council. Having never run for public office before, he discussed the idea with his family and decided to give it a try.

Growth and finance

When it comes to cost cutting and revenue intake, Jeans said that his willingness to listen and communicate, as well as his experience in working with politicians, will be advantageous to the process. He intends to look at the “big-picture” needs of the community rather than making blanket cuts as short-term solutions.

Jeans believes the city is moving in the right direction when it comes to growth and finances. He does not believe there is a current crisis of uncontrolled growth and noted that his numbers for home development in the city are between 300-350 homes a year.

Long-term, he said, the city will need to manage its growth.

“I think there are a lot of financial decisions that need to be made,” he said. “We need to gather facts and we need to listen.”

He also recognized that the budget in upcoming years will be a big issue as one-time housing revenues dry up.

“I think everybody, including the veteran council members and the outgoing mayor, knows we have a problem,” he said.

He would like to increase the city’s revenue mainly by approaching businesses to relocate operations to the area. Jeans suggested building a balance between promoting the city, bringing in revenues and maintaining the community. Rather than advocate retail expansion, he suggested identifying and communicating with light industrial and light commercial businesses to operate out of Snoqualmie. He said these types of businesses would bring in enough tax revenues to make up for the loss of the one-time fees acquired from the housing developments on the Ridge, while still maintaining the small-town feel of the city.

“What’s attractive about the town? I live in a neighborhood where neighbors know each other. I live in a neighborhood where a cop drives by in his car and people wave,” Jeans said. “There’s a lot of things that go on here. This is home.”

Tourism

Jeans suggested a few ideas to help support tourism and businesses in the area. He said inviting businesses that have long been associated with Snoqualmie to return to the Valley and/or to highlight businesses that currently reside in the city.

Wanting to give locals and those passing through a picture of what the city has to offer, he suggested moving the Snoqualmie Falls Brewing Co. to Railroad Avenue and bringing the Snoqualmie Winery back to Snoqualmie from its current location in Prosser. He also mentioned putting up clear and welcoming signage that promotes the city’s retail shops and attractions.

“There ought to be reasons for people to come in, stop and shop,” Jeans said.

Community center

Jeans said that he thought the city would benefit from having a community center built in the near future. He would like to see a center that includes a pool. Because of the financial impact of a community center with a pool, he suggested that this issue be brought to the people again to re-evaluate what they want in comparison to the estimated costs for various options.

“I think this city deserves a community center,” he said.

He would like to see the center built in the currently selected location, though the size of a pool would require additional research.

He is open to collaborating with the city of North Bend, the Si View Metropolitan Park District and/or a school district to see what kind of ideas a group like that could come up with.

“I see partnerships as a wonderful way to get where we need to be,” he said. “We ought to talk to each other, sit down and [find out] what makes sense.”

Police and Fire

Jeans is dedicated to keeping police and fire services local. His goal for managing services as a City Council member would be to develop a balance.

Though he does not want to transfer services to King County management, he would consider working with North Bend for police and fire services.

Vote for me,

not the other guy

His professional experience resolving injury cases has provided him the opportunity to work with attorneys, insurance companies and various self-insured entities including cities, counties and the state. As such, he has been responsible for multiple financial decisions and negations, as well as dispute resolution and mediation practices. He has also worked on education committees, been a part of business-related associations and has served various organizations.

Drawing on his business and negations background, Jeans said he intends to be a team player and to listen, study and understand the wants and needs of the community, in addition to assessing the issues and planning for the next step.

“I don’t want to be a politician,” he said. “I just want to be a public servant and I am trying to distinguish between the two.”

He would like to get people more involved with city government and believes that his approachable demeanor and familiar name would only help people share their thoughts with him and the City Council.

He believes in the current direction the council is taking and is confident that he could work with it and the citizens of Snoqualmie to continue moving in a positive direction through the next few years.

“I’m just trying to run my campaign and saying to the voter, ‘This is who I am and this is what I think I can contribute and I want to do this,'” he said.