Here is part of the Olympian’s recent column outlining their endorsements for the Olympia City Council:
This is a pivotal election for the Olympia City Council because a majority of the positions are up for election. The decision of voters on Nov. 3 will go a long way toward shaping the future of the capital city.
After years of inaction by council members more interested in national and international issues than policing and potholes, the 2007 election brought refreshing change. Finally, Olympia had a decisive City Council that studied issues, made the tough decisions and got the city moving again.
A new City Hall is under construction, and the Hands On Children’s Museum will soon break ground on port property. A fourth fire station will be built on the east side, The new state employees credit union is ready for occupancy and the city has made significant progress on not one, but two, proposals to meet the decades-long goal of attracting market rate housing downtown.
Plans are in place for the first municipal parking garage, and a major road improvement project is under way on Boulevard Road, with Harrison Avenue and 18th Avenue improvements scheduled shortly. The council has purchased additional land for parks, created West Bay Park, pushed Percival Landing repairs to the top of the to-do list and acquired the city’s first freshwater swimming beach at Ward Lake.
No longer is the Olympia City Council mired in the minutiae of a nuclear-free zone ordinance, angry port protests, a proposed community values ordinance or other nonsense. Yes, the isthmus housing proposal and the lake vs. estuary issues have been contentious, but no one can accuse Olympia of ducking the tough issues. Those who make tough decisions open themselves to public criticism. This is a do-something, not a do-nothing, council. What’s unfortunate is that some people may be one-issue voters. They cannot look beyond one council vote or action to see everything positive going on. That’s regrettable.
Today The Olympian’s editorial board offers its recommendations for the candidates we believe will keep this city moving forward — candidates with a variety of experiences and solid decision-making skills to tackle the issues that will come their way for the next four years.
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In some respects Councilman Jeff Kingsbury has been his own worst enemy in the past year.
As a leader on the council, Kingsbury was instrumental in drafting the pedestrian interference ordinance, which has helped ease a thorny panhandling problem downtown. Kingsbury, 49, artistic director at Capital Playhouse, also played a pivotal role in drafting the Camp Quixote ordinance that has worked so well to house the homeless in Thurston County. His solid leadership skills have been a terrific benefit to Olympia and its residents.
But Kingsbury also has taken some missteps. He has sometimes treated constituents poorly, and he got caught up in the stupid practice of council members’ e-mailing one another during council sessions. It was dumb, and Kingsbury knows it. He says he has learned from his mistakes. It’s imperative that voters not judge Kingsbury on a couple of minor mistakes, but on his four years of hard work and his strong leadership on the council. He is not afraid of making tough decisions and he has been a solid supporter of nonprofit organizations in the community.
His opponent, Stephen Buxbaum, 54, a management consultant, is a disappointment. Ask Kingsbury whether he supports the lake or estuary option and he answers clearly and concisely — “lake.”
Ask Buxbaum the same question and you get a rambling answer about setting principles for negotiations and how, “we need to bring people together around a shared vision.”
Shared vision? Make a decision! Show some leadership. Based on his demonstrated ability to resolve tough issues, we encourage voters to re-elect Jeff Kingsbury to a second term on the Olympia City Council.
You can read all of the paper’s endorsements here.
