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closeWednesday, Oct. 28, 2009
Incumbents, challengers set for showdown
By John Trumbo, Herald staff writer
Three longtime members of the Kennewick City Council face a final showdown Nov. 3 against three of the original seven challengers from the primary election.
Mayor Pro Tem Marge Price faces Don Britain, while Councilman James Hempstead is running against Sharon Brown, and Mayor Tom Moak is being challenged by John Hubbard.
Five of seven seats on the Kennewick City Council are up for election. Three positions went through the primary election in August because each race had three or more candidates.
The incumbents say the city has seen great progress in the past 12 years and is poised for more success if an incumbent council is allowed to continue.
Their opponents have a common comeback: It is time for change and to rethink spending priorities.
Hot issues for the candidates are:
w Kennewick's investment in the antique carousel project -- approaching $1 million -- without having a realistic completion date or total cost estimate.
w Some $3 million in city funds are at risk while the city appeals a civil lawsuit judgment involving proposals for Columbia Park from competing developers.
w The future of the Vista Field airport. The city council has suggested its owner, the Port of Kennewick, make best use of it by allowing potential development.
w Setting a $73 million five-year plan for capital projects throughout the city while facing a $1.6 million budget deficit and potential staff reductions for 2010.
Moak vs. Hubbard
"The issue in this election is how good is Kennewick doing now and how good is Tom Moak doing in the last 12 years, and how good in the next four years can John Hubbard do over Tom Moak?" Moak told the Herald editorial board.
Moak says crime is down, business is up and city infrastructure is good.
Hubbard, who is retired and has been a missionary with his church in New Zealand, Australia and Salt Lake City, said he wants to help Kennewick have an integrated strategic plan.
Hubbard thinks the council should have cut its losses and settled the Columbia Park Golf Course lawsuit before a jury decided to award the plaintiff a $3 million judgment.
"We thought that we could prevail in trial court," said Moak.
Hubbard says the council should consider promoting Kennewick as a retirement destination, not just a place for tourists to visit.
"Kennewick needs more millionaires. People who have lots of money and can use it here," he said.
Moak said he coasted into the primary, while Hubbard "worked hard." But he expects to show better Nov. 3.
"Eight years ago it looked bad (for me), but I prevailed," Moak said.
Moak sees no need to keep Vista Field airport when the property can be better used.
Hubbard, who has received $1,000 from airport booster Carl Cadwell, said he could accept having a business park at Vista Field, but not turning the property into entertainment-oriented use, such as a fine arts center.
Moak said the city manager has done a phenomenal job in reorganizing the city to be more efficient and maintaining services despite economic pressures that have seen 20 city jobs go away in the past six years.
Neither Moak nor Hubbard are sure where the carousel should end up.
If it doesn't wind up in the Vista Entertainment District near the Three Rivers Convention Center, the carousel should be placed where it can have year-round use, Moak said.
Hubbard would like the carousel to be a fixture for downtown Kennewick, or in Columbia Park.
Hempstead vs. Brown
Brown, an attorney who calls herself a developer because her husband is a contractor, says the campaign is all about money.
The $3 million judgment in the Columbia Park litigation and $860,000 spent to date on the antique carousel are examples of what Brown terms "rampant spending by my opponent."
Hempstead says he is done "putting money into the carousel." The future for those prancing ponies will be up to the public, he said.
Hempstead says his 12 years on the council have produced $83 million in grants and increased revenues. Growth in jobs across the city has helped add 12 public safety positions without increasing taxes, he said.
Kennewick "sits positioned very well for the future," Hempstead told the Herald.
Not so, Brown asserted.
"I believe the city's gone off track. I believe the focus of the city is to complete a lot of projects they've started (but) the city really needs to prioritize," Brown said.
Hempstead says the city manager is doing a good job and the council committees structure is a way of dissecting the details on issues.
But Brown says committee meetings don't allow enough opportunity for the public to participate in city hall decisions.
"It appears (the city manager) puts items before the council and (it) just puts a stamp on it," she said.
As for Vista Field, Hempstead says an airport may not be the best use, but he's willing to accept whatever the community wants. "I don't want to split the community," he said.
Brown downplays the fact that Cadwell, who has pushed to save the airport, has given her campaign $2,000.
"My feeling about Vista Field is the city of Kennewick has so many issues it needs to address. I don't understand why it's on a forefront," Brown said.
Dealing with gangs and improving fire department response times in emergencies are more important, she said.
Citizen accessibility to government and council setting priorities are Brown's campaign mantra. Receiving more than 50 percent of the vote in the primary shows voters "clearly want a candidate that understands fiscal responsibility," she said.
Hempstead says the council "is the most productive council in the history of the council."
Price vs. Britain
Both candidates have many years of service to the community.
Price has 35 years of municipal service, 23 as city clerk and 12 on the council. She also holds a rare professional credential as a registered parliamentarian.
Britain is a Kennewick native, has worked with Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and volunteered on the project to build the Playground of Dreams in Columbia Park. He is a Work First program case manager for the state Department of Social and Human Services.
But on the issues, the candidates stand apart.
Britain says Columbia Park west would be a good place for an aquatic park, and that the city has spent enough money on the Three Rivers Carousel project.
Price isn't sure what can be done in Columbia Park because of constraints by the Army Corps of Engineers, which oversees the property. But she says the city's investment to date on the carousel was appropriate.
Price sees the Vista Field airport as too valuable to remain an airstrip "for only 31 people," referring to the private pilots who use it the most. She said it should be closed and put to better use.
Britain says "a cloud of uncertainty and controversy" hangs over the airport because of the city's meddling. But it could become profitable as an airport if the city would stop interfering with the Port of Kennewick, which owns the land and the final word on its future, he said.
Price went along with the council on decisions that led to the Columbia Park Golf Course lawsuit.
Britain says one of the council's mistakes was welcoming a competing proposal from a second developer on Columbia Park projects, but who had no proof of financial backing.
Price says Bob Hammond, the city manager, is doing a good job; Britain says he's done good enough, earning a "B" grade.
After three terms on the council, Price said she's proud of the results that include downtown revitalization and progress in the Southridge area.
"I haven't received any complaints about the city council until he (referring to Britain) came along," Price told the Herald's editorial board.
Britain said that after attending council meetings for several months, he's troubled by not enough questions being asked at weekly council workshops.
"There's tunnel vision and a follow the leader mentality," he said.
Price noted that government is complicated.
"It takes a while to catch on to city government," she said.
* For more election coverage, go to tricityherald.com/election.
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