Voters in the town of Bucoda have two contested races to decide this November. The first is for the mayor’s office and the second is for a seat on the council.
Mayor Alan Carr is running for a third term with a focus on code enforcement and planning for growth.
“We need to keep this small community together and not let it dissolve back into the county,” he told The Chronicle.
Carr said he has been involved in the community in one form or another for the last 20 years. He has served on citizen advisory committees, the town council and as mayor.
One of the larger issues he said the town is debating is code enforcement to clean up some of the derelict properties. It is an issue every community faces, he said. The town is trying to determine how to best enforce its ordinances.
Currently, Bucoda does not have a contract with the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office to enforce the town’s codes and ordinances, Carr said. He and the council are looking at the costs associated with such a contract or if it could be done cheaper through a code enforcement officer employed by the town, which would then need an attorney to prosecute those found in violation.
An abandoned vehicle on property owned by Burlington Northern Railroad was not removed promptly because the city did not have a legal mechanism in place to do so, he said. They contacted Burlington Northern and it took them more than two weeks to remove it. Carr said this is an example of one of the many code violations in the town.
Having been involved in the town’s government for so long, Carr said he knows the ins and outs of the budget as the town explores options to not only enforce codes but to supplement grant dollars that may not be available in the future.
“We are holding out and still getting grant money to do water projects,” Carr said.
However, the amount of grant money available has decreased over the last few years.
Carr is being challenged by Aurora Lopez. She did not respond to The Chronicle’s request for an interview. On the Thurston County Auditor’s website, her email is listed but her phone number is not.
Running for town council position 2’s two-year unexpired term, Michael Vanderhoof said he wants to get involved in the community.
Vanderhoof said he wants “basically to improve, and to stay of the path we are on.”
Vanderhoof believes the city should examine all of its options when it comes to code enforcement. Aside from contracting with the sheriff’s office, the town could contract with the Tenino Police Department to provide law enforcement services or it could even reinstate its own police department; however, that option is the most expensive and least likely to become reality, he added.
“When trying to make a decision like this you don’t want to take anything off the table,” he said.
Like Carr, Vanderhoof believes the community is a great place to live and raise a family. He said he wants to work to make sure Bucoda is not “one of the towns that dissolves into the ether.”
Vanderhoof is running against Steven Lyle, who declined The Chronicle’s request for an interview.
Running unopposed are Gary Givens for council position 3, Alan Vanell for council position 4 and Robert F. Gordon for council position 5.
