While most local races this election cycle have two or fewer candidates running, the races for two city council seats in Centralia have three people each on the ballot and will appear on the Aug. 1 primary ballot.
In the District 1 race, incumbent Ron Greenwood has two challengers: business owner Cameron McGee and former Napavine city clerk Penny Jo Haney. Also appearing on the primary ballot is the race for District 3 seat, with incumbent Max Vogt being challenged by local activist Kurtis Engle and marketing specialist Colin Hamilton.
Of the four seats up for election this year, all but one are contested races. Susan Luond is running unopposed for recently-resigned Mayor Bonnie Canaday’s position in District 4 after Canaday announced she would not seek re-election. The mayorship is not an elected position, as the council votes on which one of the seven members will act as mayor for ceremonial and official purposes.
Rebecca Staebler, owner of HUBBUB in Centralia, is challenging John Elmore for his seat on the council.
Ballots for the Aug. 1 primary will be mailed on July 12. Voters will have to return their completed ballots to a ballot drop box by 8 p.m. on election day or postmarked by Aug. 1.
District 1
Located at the north end of the city limits, District 1 mostly consists of older residential homes, a few commercial properties, the industrial area east of the railroad tracks running parallel to Tower Avenue and a portion of the downtown area.
Each of the three candidates comes from a different background. Greenwood currently works as a line chef at McMenamins Olympic Club, McGee is a small business owner who operates Calypso Window Washing, and Haney is the former city clerk for Napavine who has worked in politics for a number of years.
“I originally ran for council because I wanted to serve the community and help shape it for the future,” Greenwood said. “I think I’ve done an OK job … Everything I do I try to look out for the improvement and betterment of people.”
During his next term in office, he wants to focus on updating and expanding infrastructure to accommodate future growth, Greenwood said. By updating the city’s public works systems, more businesses would be attracted to the area, he said.
“It is a good start to build on to or fix our streets,” Greenwood said.
Economic development in both the downtown area and in other areas of the city is a key point for McGee as well. He said a lot of things the council can do relate back to economic development, from improving the streets to working with other parties to establish relationships that can improve schools to transportation and working with developers to build more mid level housing costing between $150,000 to $200,000.
If elected, McGee said, he would be the youngest person on council, at 30 years old.
“I think it would be beneficial for all generations to be represented,” he said.
McGee added his experience as a small business owner would benefit the community as well.
“I would be a voice for that,” he said. “I’ve kind of been a business owner since I was 17.”
McGee said he wants to bring better representation to the council from District 1 because many people believe it does not receive as much attention as other parts of the city.
Greenwood said he works to address the concerns of his District 1 constituents but works to represent the entire city because when the city prospers his district prospers as well.
Haney said she has wanted to be on the Centralia City Council for the last few years but was unable to run because her position as Napavine city clerk conflicted with the meeting time.
“Now I have time on my hands to dedicate to it,” she said.
She, along with the other two candidates, want to work to build relationships with various organizations to support and spur growth as well as improve the city’s infrastructure.
One of the top things Haney wants to bring to Centralia is more hotel chains, which will encourage more people to stay overnight in town after they visit the Northwest Sports Hub or other attractions. She added it would attract conferences to town. She hopes by adding these developments on top of the Centralia Station more people will get off the freeway and venture into downtown.
“It brings a lot of people into town,” Haney said.
District 3
District 3 is located toward the center of the city limits, covering parts of Centralia College, residential housing and some commercial area east of the interstate.
Each of the candidates has a set of goals and ideas they would like to see implemented by the city.
Hamilton, for example, believes the city should be more fiscally responsible when it comes to updating and expanding services such as the power grid.
Instead of raising rates for utility payers, Hamilton, a self-described fiscal conservative, said the city should bond against future growth so growth pays for itself.
“Centralia needs new people on the council with new ideas,” he said. “I think our city council should be proactively seeking businesses coming into town.”
Hamilton said he wants the city government to act as a bridge between the community and businesses who are looking to locate in town. He wants the council to promote the area to companies in order to create jobs.
These are goals echoed by the majority of candidates. Aside from community and economic growth, other community projects are being discussed during the election.
Vogt said the biggest challenge the city faces is not necessarily jobs, but how to keep businesses in Centralia to create well-paying jobs.
Another issue is how to accommodate growth. The housing market is doing well in the county at the moment and Seattle is one of the fastest growing cities in the nation, he added. The ripple effect from the growth in Seattle is being felt throughout the region.
The city has to work to update the infrastructure, both roads and utilities, in order to accommodate that growth.
The homelessness in the area also plays into the growth factor in terms of property values and people wanting to live in the city. Vogt said the issue is not unique to Centralia. Of the 281 cities in Washington that belong to the Association of Washington Cities, all of them have reported a rise in their homeless populations.
Vogt said he believes the best solution to the problem is to have all the organizations, such as churches, food banks and other charities, collaborate in order to address the different sides of the issue and not just one aspect of it. Instead of having each organization work to solve the same piece of the puzzle, the organizations should be able to address different parts of the puzzle, Vogt said. The state has some good programs addressing the issue, but the community should work on it as well, he added.
“I really like and enjoy the work of being on city council,” Vogt said. “It is a job and I view it as a job.”
Although Vogt is the incumbent in this race, it is his first time running for reelection. He was appointed in 2015 after former Councilor Pat Gallagher resigned after taking a job out of state.
Engle, a local activist running for the District 3 seat, said he wants to improve public transportation and develop more bicycle trails in the area.
“It is running around like children,” Engle said of the bus routes.
He said the buses don’t go anywhere, making it difficult for people like him who don’t own a car to get around.
“I am running because the city rejected my transit plan. I wrote that plan because on the one hand Twin Transit has been sabotaged and is no longer usable,” Engle said in a written statement to the Chronicle. “And on the other hand I have a blind spot that prevents me driving, so, of course, Twin Transit is my primary means of transportation.”
The Centralia City Council does not have direct control over the bus routes or Twin Transit. It is governed by a three-member board consisting of a Centralia city councilor, a Chehalis city councilor and one of the three county commissioners.
Aside from transit issues, Engle believes thorium reactors should be set up in Centralia instead of the current coal burning power plant Transalta operates.
Thorium power is a type of nuclear based power using the element thorium instead of uranium.
Engle said he also believes it can be used to power spacecrafts.
He added that it is safer than uranium and would create well-paying jobs in the region.
“We could sell any number of reactors without badly cutting into this supply,” Engle said in the written statement sent to The Chronicle. “Everyone will want to buy because thorium reactors have none of the problems uranium reactors do.”
Engle has ideas on other issues as well including moving train tracks out of the center of town and creating recreational opportunities.
“I'd like the live theater troops to travel regularly to play each other's venues,” Engle said in his statement in the voter’s guide. “I'd like a drum circle at the mouth of the Skookumchuck, 1,000 feet from the nearest house.”
