Copyright Everett Herald
By The Herald Editorial Board Two of four of Mill Creek’s city council seats are contested in the Nov. 4 election for the city of about 21,000, with two current council members running unopposed. Position 1 John Steckler, first appointed to the council in 2018, is running unopposed. Position 2 Stephanie Vignal, who won election to her first term in 2021, is running unopposed. Position 3 Connie Allison, who won election in 2021 and began service once that election was certified, seeks a second term and is challenged by Scott Harder. Harder, a 19-year resident of the city, is the public information officer for South County Fire, and previously worked in a marketing and communications role for the City of Mill Creek for three years. Prior to that Harder worked in communications and customer outreach roles for Puget Sound Energy. Harder has been active with Make-A-Wish, Housing Hope, Alderwood Boys & Girls Club and the Everett School District. Allison, who has lived in Mill Creek since 2010, has worked for Boeing for 32 years in engineering, program management and currently in research and technology. She has coached youth sports for eight years and served with the PTA, as a Girl Scouts troop leader and Sunday school teacher. Harder says his work in communications, in particular for the city, has provided him a good background in the city’s issues and experience working with the public, seeking to improve the city’s transparency and outreach. Harder sees five main issues for the city, including its structural budget deficit, housing, public safety, government transparency and outreach and plans for the “DRCC” properties. Regarding measures to address the city’s budget, Harder said he opposes suggestions for staff cuts and annexation of outlying areas, but does support a careful examination of the budget to determine necessary spending. A campaign to encourage residents to do more of their shopping within Mill Creek, could also help improve the city’s revenue from sales tax, without increasing its rate. On public safety, Harder said he’s encouraged that the city has been able to fill positions within the police department, and the department has stepped up traffic enforcement on speeding and now is tackling a new problem with unhelmeted youths using higher-speed electric scooters that aren’t licensed for street use as motor vehicles. Harder said he wants to see the city install more bike lanes to encourage bike use, slow traffic and improve safety for cyclists and pedestrians. Regarding the recent outcry over South County Fire’s redeployment of paramedics, resolved with the return of a paramedic to the Mill Creek station, resulted from a lack of communication between the fire agency and the city, something he said he believes he would have been able to facilitate if on the council. Allison, who calls herself an integrator and wants to see a city that functions well, said she’s encouraged by the city’s direction after some turmoil early into her council term regarding the city administration. The city promoted its deputy city manager to the top position in 2022, who since then, she said, has done a great job, proving himself as a collaborative leader. Allison, noting the city’s revenue comes primarily from sales tax and property tax, said she wants to respect the needs of property owners and keep the city friendly to business. Still, Allison said, she’s concerned that the city doesn’t have the revenue it needs to cover the services residents want. She said she’s open to looking at creation of special taxing districts and other revenue sources, to avoid using the city’s banked property tax capacity. At the same time she said the council needs to be careful in any cuts it makes to city staff. Allison said she worked for and is encouraged by recent hiring for a now fully staffed police department. She also supports recent action by the council to address electric motorbikes to strengthen the city’s ordinances regarding licensing for the vehicles and the police department’s response to educate the community. She also said she may investigate, as the city’s legislative liason, potential state legislation to address dealers’ sales of the electric motorbikes. Regarding the fire agency’s redeployment of staff, Allison said she understood its reasons for makng adjustments, but said more notification of its plans with the public and the city was needed. There’s an agreement in place now for more regular meetings between the city and agency, including public forums. Harder’s background and communication experience would be useful to the council and residents, and he demonstrated detailed knowledge of the issues and concerns before the city. Allison, however, has in her four years, developed as a leader on the council and has focused on issues important to residents, including development, housing and livability, public safety, management of the city’s administration and its budget. Voters should return Allison for a second term. Position 4 After serving three terms, Brian Holtzclaw, council member and mayor, did not file this spring to run for re-election for his seat, opening the position to two hopefuls: Tannis Golebiewski and Gaurav Kumar. Golebiewski, a 22-year city resident, has served on the city’s parks and recreation board since 2021 and as its chair since 2022. Golebiewski previously ran for council in 2023, losing to Vince Cavaleri for Position 5. She has bachelor’s degrees in mathematics and political science and has volunteered with Girl Scouts and teaches catechism at Mill Creek’s Catholic church. Kumar is a small business owner in the technology and services industry with past experience in urban planning, land use, public safety and transportation. A Mill Creek resident since 2013, he volunteers with a nonprofit that teaches robotics and STEM fields to elementary and middle school students. He also served as a volunteer teaching assistant at Snohomish High School and Cascade High School. Golebiewski said she’s running to ensure the city continues to thrive and remains a good place for the next generation to raise their kids, as it was for her five children. She wants the city to continue offering a robust level of services and develop a responsive plan for the city’s South Town Center with community spaces there and at the city’s DRCC property. Kumar described himself as a servant leader, innovator and collaborator who wants to enable and manage sustainable growth in the city through consensus building. he said he would work to seek reforms and programs that strengthen the city’s economic foundation that attracts and retains businesses, improves public safety and balances the city’s budget responsibly. Kumar said he’s concerned by the city’s growing structural budget deficit and its potential effects on police and other city services. Having to deal with a deficit, he said, is a concern but not having a plan to deal with it is a bigger problem. The city has developed plans for projects such as South Town Center and the DRCC, but those will take time to develop and build revenue for the city, increasing the need for more immediate solutions. Regarding the city’s budget and financial needs, he doesn’t want to see an austerity budget with deep cuts to staff and services, nor would he support significant increases to taxes. Instead, he said, he wants to see the city attract more businesses, including in the health care field and manufacturing research field through outreach and development with a dedicated business development staff, as he’s seen used by Kirkland and Brier. Golebiewski acknowledged the budget shortfall the city must confront, but said the city’s financial staff and the council have done good work in building the city’s financial reserves over time. She would look to avoid staff cuts, noting that the city is leanly run and is working well. She would support, she said, the city more regularly taking its allowed 1 percent property tax increase, and perhaps using 2 percent to 3 percent of its banked capacity to increase revenue to address some of the city’s deferred maintenance and its development plans for South Town Center, which she sees as a strong generator for sales tax revenue. Regarding the city’s housing supply, Kumar said the city needs to lead on the issue by planning and sees greater opportunity to add additional housing beyond estimates he has seen in city meetings. One potential area for development he said he sees is along the future line for Sound Transit’s Link light rail. Golebiewski said the city, having started as a planned development, has long offered a good range of housing, but agrees that the city can look for incentives to encourage housing options such as condominiums that could allow older homeowners to put larger homes on the market for families. She also favors a proposal to use some of the South Town Center area for housing. Regarding traffic safety, Golebiewski expressed support for speed cameras, but not red-light cameras, on city streets to help reduce speeds and increase safety. Kumar favors placement of speed bumps in some neighborhoods and would prefer speed enforcement remain with police patrols rather than cameras. Holtzclaw’s pending departure leaves significant shoes to fill, but Kumar and Golebiewski each offer abilities of value to the council and the city at large. Kumar’s big-picture economic approach is solution-based and backed by his work in the field. At the same time, Golebiewski has demonstrated a commitment to the city through her work on the parks and recreation committee and attention to city issues. What tips the balance in Golebiewski’s favor is her foresight to see the city will need a more balanced approach to revenue that explores a judicious use of the city’s banked capacity of property taxes to maintain city services, staffing and investments in development. Voters should add her voice to the council. General election Voters should have received ballots and local and state voters’ guides in the mail. An online voter’s guide is available at tinyurl.com/SnoCoVotersGuide2025. A full list of The Herald Editorial Board’s endorsements will be published and be available online on Oct. 25. More information on the Nov. 4 election, registering to vote, ballot drop box locations and more is available at tinyurl.com/SnoCoElex.
