Contentious year in Richland brings heated race for mayor

City hall watchers won’t have much time to recover from New Year’s celebrations in 2018.

The gloves promise to come off Jan. 2, when the Richland City Council gathers to swear in new and returning members, and to select a new mayor to serve as the city’s face for the next two years.

The former will be a routine affair. Michael Alvarez and Ryan Lukson won seats on the council in November, while Sandra Kent and Bob Thompson won re-election. All four will take the oath of office.

But the latter promises to be a good old-fashioned city hall showdown.

Thompson is completing a two-year term as mayor — a mostly honorary position — and wants to hold on to the job for another term. He’s being challenged by Councilman Phil Lemley, an eight-year council member who is aggressively campaigning for the job.

Mayor Pro Tem Terry Christensen is a rumored candidate as well, though he could not be reached for comment.

One candidate has already dropped out. Kent said she was interested in the mayor’s gig when she ran for re-election. This week, Kent said she’s shifted gears and will throw in her hat for mayor pro tem to get a taste for what the demands of the figurehead role require.

Under Richland’s council-manager form of government, the seven-member elected city council chooses a member to serve as mayor for two years.

The mayor presides over meetings, attends ribbon-cuttings and generally serves as the face of the city at events such as the chamber’s annual “State of the Cities” luncheon.

The day-to-day job of running the city rests with city manager Cindy Reents, who reports to the elected council.

Lemley was a Bechtel engineer who moved to Richland in 2001 to work on the vitrification plant. He retired in 2010 and has served the city with energy ever since.

He boasts of a near-perfect attendance record for city meetings, noting he was once sent home following the death of a close family member.

He manages a punishing list of council assignments and volunteers on four statewide boards concerned with emergency management, aging, building codes and most recently, sentencing guidelines.

“I’ve put in the effort every single day,” said Lemley.

Lemley said his Bechtel career kept him moving from post to post. When he arrived in Richland for the long-term vit plant project, he sunk roots and got involved.

He ran for city council twice before finally succeeding in his third run.

If selected as mayor, Lemley pledged to attend as many Tri-City civic functions as possible and to promote dialogue with the community.

He is interested in growth and smart development, and is an unabashed supporter of the controversial Duportail Bridge.

He recently made headlines for spearheading Richland’s move to adopt a “welcoming” statement to reaffirm its commitment to diversity.

Lemley said he was criticized by those who viewed the move as a solution in search of a problem.

However, it cost the city nothing to make the statement, Lemley said, and called it a good move at a time when the Manhattan Project National Park is starting to bring a global audience to the region.

Lemley was Richland’s mayor pro tem 2014-16 under then-Mayor David Rose, who did not run for election this year and concludes his term at the end of the month.

Thompson, who practices law in Pasco, is a 20-plus year veteran of the council. He succeeded Rose as mayor in 2016 and previously served in the role 2000-04.

There’s more to being Richland’s mayor than running a meeting, he said, adding that Kent and Lemley are capable of running meetings.

Thompson said his involvement with the Energy Community Alliance and understanding of Hanford contracting are important assets for the Hanford-dependent community.

He added that the mayor needs to understand how the contracting process works and how the major contractors are motivated to get involved in the community.

Richland is less dependent on Hanford spending than it was, he said, but Hanford still represents 65 percent of its disposable income, Thompson said.

But past contracts have earmarked a portion of fees for community involvement, something that’s currently missing.

“I think there are things to do, and I would like to stay on,” he said.

Thompson shocked several fellow members of the council this week when he hinted that Richland may revisit the controversial $20 car tab fee that takes effect in January.

The council unanimously passed the fee, saying the money was needed to help pay for the Duportail Bridge and for pavement maintenance.

The funding gap then shrank, and bids came in below the engineer’s estimate. Thompson said the city may not need to issue bonds to pay for the bridge, and that the 2018 council may revisit if the fee should remain $20.

As mayor, Thompson often took the lead in explaining the unpopular move to citizens.

The Jan. 2 agenda is not yet available.

Council sessions typically begin with a pre-meeting at 7 p.m. in the manager’s conference room, 975 George Washington Way, and continue with the regular session at 7:30 p.m., next door in city hall, 505 Swift Blvd.

Agendas are posted to the city website, bit.ly/RichlandAgendas, a minimum of 24 hours before the meeting.

This story was originally published December 21, 2017 at 4:18 PM with the headline "Contentious year in Richland brings heated race for mayor."