Candidates discussed their ideas to meet challenges and opportunities facing their respective offices. From the left, running for Port of Centralia Commissioner Position 3 Jordan Peabody and Peter Lahmann, running for Centralia City Council District 2 is Rebecca Staebler and John Elmore, and running for Chehalis City Council At-Large position is Dennis Dawes. Dawes is being challenged by local business owner Jerry Lord, but Lord was not present at the debate.
In addition to hosting a candidate forum, the Centralia-Chehalis Chamber of Commerce issues candidates grades based on the answers given in a written questionnaire.
Those grades, delivered through “report cards,” were published on the Chamber’s website last week.
“The Chamber is about business advocacy,” Chamber Executive Director Alicia Bull said in a statement accompanying the issued reports. “Our questions were focused on the business community and support surrounding the concept of creating an atmosphere of growth and economic development in Centralia.”
The reports were released to the public Thursday and are available on the Chamber’s website, chamberway.com. The candidates completed the questionnaires prior to the debates the Chamber hosted in August.
Eleven of the 14 voting board members participated in the grading process. The board is made up of 16 people with two non-voting members, the city managers for Centralia and Chehalis.
The Chamber has released the individual grades on each question and the overall grade they have given to the candidates.
“Elections are important. They can polarize or help move a community forward. Our approach is to try to find candidates that will help move our community forward,” Bull said in the statement.
Candidates from three different races were included.
Port of Centralia
Commissioner District 3
For the position of Port Commissioner District 3, Jordan Peabody and Peter Lahmann are facing off for a position currently held by Matt Evans, who is pursuing a seat on the board for the Riverside Fire Authority.
Peabody’s overall grade was B+ while his opponent Lahmann was given a C-.
The topics ranged from the overall role of the port to what the partnership between the port and Chamber should look like. Other questions were about who should pay for future improvements if a company that would bring over 250 family wage jobs wanted to come to Centralia or what the current strengths and weaknesses of the port are.
Both candidates believe there are opportunities to bring industry and businesses to Centralia. Peabody said in his answer he wants to help bring Centralia into the 21st century.
“As the city will undoubtedly grow, I see new opportunities for technology, education and transportation as a means to give Centralia an even greater role as a key city in south Puget Sound,” Peabody wrote.
Lahmann said he wants to look for ways to bring industry and manufacturing jobs to the area. He also wants to help create an apprenticeship program to train vocational workers while they are on the job.
Chehalis City Council Position 1
Incumbent Dennis Dawes is being challenged for his seat on the Chehalis City Council by Jerry Lord. However, Lord did not attend the debate on Aug. 14 because his brother was at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle and because he is not “pro-chamber,” he said.
“If someone else was holding it (the debate) I probably would have attended depending on how my brother was doing,” Lord told The Chronicle. “I wasn’t making any plans other than just working and driving up to visit him.”
Lord added he does not believe the Chamber does a lot to support businesses other than offer networking opportunities for its members.
At this point in the election cycle, not a lot of work has been put into his campaign, Lord said. In the month before the election in November, he said he plans on knocking on doors and getting his message out.
The Chamber gave Lord an F on the written questions because he did not answer them.
Dawes, who was present at the debate, received a B+ from the Chamber board on his written answers.
The topics ranged from what the candidates believe to be the biggest challenge facing Chehalis to what the relationship between the city and Chamber should look like.
Centralia City Council District 2
Downtown business owner Rebecca Staebler is challenging incumbent John Elmore for his position on the council.
Elmore received the higher of the two scores with a B+ compared to Staebler’s C-.
The questions were similar to those from the questionnaires for the Chehalis City Council race and the port race.
The comments made by the Chamber board members overall say Staebler did not answer the question presented or misrepresented the facts.
For example, one question asked if the candidate would support the annual $40,000 request made by the Chamber to the city to help fund the visitor's center.
Staebler said the Chamber should present a budget and show how it benefits the local business community. She added it is a duplicate service that provides the same offerings as Discover Lewis County, the county’s taxpayer-funded tourism website.
The Chamber board members responded in the comments that the budget is presented and the visitor's center directs people to local businesses and not just tourist attractions. The center is also funded by the lodging tax as distributed through the lodging tax advisory committee.
“Disappointed that Rebecca doesn’t understand what the Chamber does currently via the lodging tax advisory committee. Needs to educate herself,” one chamber board member wrote.
Staebler told The Chronicle she was not given a budget to answer the question; all the information she had to go one was the $40,000 stated in the question. She said she may not have all the information because she is not on the council or the advisory committee.
The board members said Elmore has supported the visitor’s center for years.
Out of all the candidates, Staebler drew the most scorn from the Chamber board via the anonymous comments provided with the report cards. Staebler is the owner of HUBBUB, which is a member of the Chamber.
“I feel good about my answers and I feel good about what I would bring to the role,” Staebler told The Chronicle. “I will continue to learn and grow.”
The debate was hosted by the Chamber and the questions were meant to determine how the candidates support the Chamber, she said.
“My views may not be in line with what the chamber’s role is and their pet projects,” Staebler said.
She said an example of a “pet project” is the Centralia Station project in which a developer wants to build a large retail center near Mellen Street. Staebler said the Chamber is promoting the project even though its construction is still not a sure thing. Staebler also doubts its benefits to Centralia and its citizens and feels the Chamber should have brought more elements of the community together to discuss the project instead of just going for it.
Staebler said the role of the chamber is to promote local businesses and support the local business community, which includes reaching out to non-members and supporting all the businesses regardless if they belong to the Chamber or not.
“I often see the Chamber isolated and in their own circle,” she said.
In addition, Staebler said the chamber should communicate, collaborate and respect other community organizations and the city.
“We all have the same goal,” she said. “We all want to have our community thrive.”`
