Budget statements from county council candidates

Democratic Snohomish County Council incumbent Terry Ryan faces a challenge from Republican Marcus Barton in the Nov. 7 general election.

The two candidates recently sent statements about their approach to consideration of a county budget.

They are running to represent Snohomish County Council District 4 including Mountlake Terrace, Brier, Mill Creek, Bothell and unincorporated areas near those cities. The County Council position is the only partisan position on local ballots.

Here are their statements in the order that names will appear on the November ballot and in the voters’ pamphlet:

County Council District 4

Terry Ryan (Prefers Democratic Party)

I will use the same approach as last year. I work to produce a balanced, fiscally responsible budget. As Chairman of the County Council last year, I streamlined our Budget process using “best practices” gleaned from my private business experience.

We produced a budget that protects the County’s bank accounts so we can pay our bills, increased our General Fund balance from 9.4 percent to 10.4 percent. We increased funding for: Public Safety, Office of Neighborhoods (Helping the homeless, mentally ill and drug addicted), Infrastructure and funding for Senior Centers. We set minimum fund balance levels for REET I and REET II and started a new rainy-day fund to protect our future.

Marcus Barton (Prefers Republican Party)

We need to start living within our budget. The county has to stop the ‘want-to’ projects and stick with the ‘got-to’ projects. We need to prioritize where money is going and make sure we can pay the bills. The last person that should worry about budget cuts are first responders. They provide one of the most important services to our community.

And finally, we need to attract more commerce and residents that can actually afford to live and do business here.

There has to be transparency so that the public will see where their money is coming from and going to. People are tired of wasteful spending.

Introductory statement from unopposed incumbent Brier mayor

Unopposed incumbent Brier Mayor Bob Colinas recently sent a statement to introduce himself to voters.

Here is his statement:

City of Brier Mayor

Bob Colinas

Growing up and raising my own family in Brier, it made sense to me that I work as your Mayor, using my life and career experience’s working in local government to stabilize and manage our city.  It is a great pleasure working with a city council, staff and host of community volunteers that make our community what it is today.  I will continue to maintain our quality of life and upholding Brier’s municipal codes and our large lot size. Working to provide reasonable city services at a reasonable cost while maintaining fiscal restraints for a balanced operating budget.

I’m honored to have your continued support and vote in this election.

–By Evan Smith
Evan Smith can be reached at schsmith@frontier.com.