Carnation city council candidates look at changes ahead

Published 1:35 pm Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Tradition is important in Carnation, where change happens slowly, but surely. The city of just over 1,000 people has struggled in recent years with budget cuts and finding ways to fund police services. Building in the city was stalled for decades because the city was on septic systems but now, the city’s “new” sewer system is nine years old and a long awaited development of nearly 100 homes is on its way.

In this election cycle, Carnation will have three city council positions on the November ballot, but only two are on the primary, having more than two contenders for each.

Running for Position 1 are incumbent Fred Bereswill, Steve McFall and Jeff Lim.

Running for Position 5 are Ernest Fix, Mike Flowers and Dustin Green. The current incumbent, Erin Chamberlain, did not file to run for re-election.

Two candidates, Lim and Green, could not be contacted by any of the information on file with King County Elections.

We asked each of them a few questions about the city:

• Carnation is seeing new development for the first time in a decade. What challenges is the city now facing with this growth?

• Tight budgets have led to changes in police services and reductions in city staff and service hours. How would you prioritize spending of city funds?

• If elected, what do you hope to accomplish in the next four years?

City Council, Position 1

Fred Bereswill

Fred Bereswill, 86, is a retired air safety investigator. He’s lived in Carnation 17 years.

Challenges of growth?

Keeping up with infrastructure and economic development for increasing population with limited city resources.

City spending priorities?

As of now, public safety is about 50 percent of our general budget. This is the top priority. However, recent levy failures for additional police services indicates that our citizens have mixed feelings regarding our current level of policing.

We need a top notch staff also. Ours in Carnation is that.

Goals, if re-elected?

Keep Carnation a livable small city with more amenities and improve our downtown business area to facilitate economic development.

Steve McFall

Steve McFall, 59, has lived in Carnation for 28 years.

Challenges of growth?

Life safety is one of the largest concerns facing our community. Our sewer system was built to withstand large growth. However, our water system is aging with no strategy to upgrade or maintain. The storm system is a pervious system, which means we have no storm detention.

Roads must be repaired and maintained. The sidewalks and walking paths also need to be maintained to keep the flow of pedestrian traffic safe.

Spending priorities?

Police, infrastructure and roads would be my main focus on spending existing funds. We need to be frugal with all funds.

Now is not the time to study the development of the downtown corridor. This has been done numerous times to no avail. We need to staff our City Hall to a level to service the citizens of Carnation. Our local businesses need the support of the city as well as from the citizens.

Goals?

If elected, I will work toward a sustainable tax base. I would strive to build a community that would attract local businesses and provide business opportunities. This will allow for a long-term solution on a police presence, whether city-owned or contracted. I would strive to make the community of Carnation a desired and safe place to live or visit.

City Council, Position 5

Ernest Fix

Ernest Fix works as a lead maintenance technician for the city of Redmond Streets Division. He’s lived in Carnation for three years.

Challenges of growth?

New residential development in Carnation represents an opportunity to expand our community and bolster city revenue.

However, we need to ensure growth doesn’t come at the expense of the town’s identity. Carnation’s history, natural environment, and close-knit ‘small-town’ sense of community should be carefully considered from the start of planning process through completion of a development.

We also need to be mindful not to allow growth to outpace the preservation of existing infrastructure, and to ensure that the resources needed to sustain an increased population, such as utilities, transportation, and schools, are accounted for before development occurs.

Spending priorities?

Ensuring public safety should be the top priority of any community. The King County Sheriff’s Office has done a great job serving the city in spite of limited funding since starting their contract in 2014. Providing our officers with additional, sustainable funding they need to build off their successes should be emphasized.

Another priority should be the preservation of infrastructure. Many of Carnation’s roads are in poor condition. Deferring needed maintenance only results in higher repair and replacement costs and increased burden on taxpayers down the road.

Goals?

Over the next four years, I’d like to accomplish:

Finding sustainable funding for police services;

Ensuring the budget process and allocation of public funds are transparent, with performance measurements so taxpayers know what they’re getting for their money;

Prioritizing preservation of roads, sidewalks, parks, and other public facilities and encouraging community development that aligns with city priorities and supports the community as a whole.

Mike Flowers

Mike Flowers is a computing architect. He’s lived in Carnation for 14 years

Challenges of growth?

The challenges the city will face with new development are the increased demand and load on infrastructure. This will require the city to establish goals, objectives and strategies to focus itslimited resources on what is needed to keep citizens safe.

This includes ensuring roads are kept in good working condition and providing the right level of service for public health and safety such as police, water and sewer.

The new homes will provide additional tax base, but not all the money necessary, so a solid plan and strategy is needed.

Spending priorities?

The city council first needs to establish sound goals, objectives and strategies for the city that are based on facts and data. Then the city would be able to align initiatives and requests with city goals and objectives. If an initiative supports the city goals, then it would have a higher priority. We focus our resources on those higher-priority items.

Goals?

I will consider it a successful term if the city is able to develop a set of goals, objectives and strategies and actually utilize them when making decisions. Government in general does not have unlimited resources and we must manage our money and resources better.

My focus as city councilmember will be to establish and utilize a process that ensures we make decisions that support the city’s long term goals, objectives and strategies.