Six candidates for three Chehalis City Council seats took the podium for the election debate hosted and organized by The Chronicle at the TransAlta Commons at Centralia College on Oct. 8 to answer questions on the potential annexation of the urban growth area (UGA), homelessness and more.
Bob Spahr, District 3; Kevin Carns, District 2; and Kate McDougall, District 1; are looking to maintain their roles on the council, while Jessie Carver, Jack-Allen Snodgrass and Elijah White aim to unseat them in their respective districts.
The Chronicle will feature the Centralia City Council races in Thursday’s edition. Port of Centralia Commission candidates were featured in last Saturday’s edition. That article, photos and video can be found at chronline.com.
Annexation on the table
The City of Chehalis is considering the potential annexation of its UGA and has taken numerous steps forward in 2025, including beginning negotiations with Lewis County and setting a joint public hearing with the county on Oct. 20.
Annexation was the immediate topic raised by moderators Greg Rohr and Zac Eckstein, chairmen of the Lewis County Republican and Democratic parties, respectively. Spahr, who carries more than 36 years of experience on the city council, said the potential annexation has been considered for the last three decades but “the opportunity has just never been there.”
“We’ve studied it. We’ve analyzed it, and it’s just never been financially feasible to follow through. This time’s a little different,” Spahr said. “There’s a lot of players in the game.”
Spahr said annexation, if approved by the council, could bring in revenues without the expenses to cover and that he hopes the city could even lower taxes in town. He also considered the possibilities of the council choosing not to annex.
“If we don’t annex today, it’s going to probably bring some problems in the future development out in the annexed area,” he said.
Carver said that despite the recent push to move annexation along, there’s no clear-cut answer as to whether now is the right time due to incomplete data.
“I think we need to have all the information. We need to know precisely what this will cost us and precisely what the risk could be as well,” Carver said. “I don’t know about you, but I can’t make a decision unless I have all of the information. If we can get the correct data and see that it’s fiscally positive for Chehalis, then I support it.”
Carns was recently the lone opposing vote against scheduling the joint public hearing. He said then that, like Carver, he wanted to receive further financial and consensus data.
“Annexation is probably the most consequential action a local government can take. The public has the right to zero unknown variables. Right now, there are still unknown variables,” Carns said. “The top concern should be the cost to the current residents of the city, and can we deliver effective services to the area that we are going to annex? I don’t know that those questions have been answered. I am not a hard no on annexation. I am definitely not a yes until more information becomes available.”
Snodgrass, a resident of Chehalis for five years, agreed with Carns that more information is required. He said a thorough review of taxes and infrastructure implications will be necessary for the amount of residents that may be annexed.
“I do view it as something that is a unique opportunity for us to take. We have the opportunity to bring more people into this community…and to add more tax revenue,” Snodgrass said.
McDougall and White, who works at The Chronicle as a sales representative, were mostly aligned in their opinions on the potential annexation as the other candidates. McDougall admitted that what is in front of the city right now is not worth a yes vote but that more information, particularly on the impact on law enforcement and emergency services, will be required as she said seven additional firemen would be needed if annexation were to follow through.
“We’ve always been an advocate for public safety. It will take us seven firemen if we were to say yes to annexation by the end of this year. That’s a lot of money that’s coming in,” McDougall said. “We need the revenue to do it. We have those numbers that are supposed to be conservative right now. We need to see them.”
White added that “there’s a ton of promising pieces in place” despite the annexation talks continuing for 30 years.
“We can’t have this be an extra cost of the city because we cannot afford it right now. I think the first step is to make sure the budget is balanced and with the Darigold loss that we’re not losing more money and putting this burden onto our taxpayers, the fixed incomes, the small families that are just trying to make it day to day,” he said.
Shared responsibilities with Lewis County
Candidates were given a hypothetical question about how responsibilities such as building inspections, emergency services and communications should be shared or separated if Chehalis were to grow through annexation. Each of the respondents was mostly aligned with one another, explaining their hope for the city to keep as much agency for such responsibilities as possible while maintaining fiscal responsibility.
Spahr noted that if the city council chooses not to pursue annexation, the county will take over the permitting process in the UGA. Snodgrass said he wants the city to be in charge of permitting in order to allow more responsive inspections and permitting, as well as to enable more businesses to move into Chehalis.
“We want to be in control of our own destiny. That doesn’t mean we don’t cooperate with the county as a whole, but I wouldn’t like to give up any more of our ability to advocate for ourselves and our unique needs to the county,” he said. “That is absolutely necessary.”
Carns explained that while there’s no doubt that the city will continue to grow, it must grow smartly. He said he has heard from many business owners in the city about the city’s permitting process and its need for improvement.
“If we can’t fast track it and get those permits out the door in a timely fashion, we need to figure out what’s broken and fix that, because the growth is not going to wait for us,” Carns said.
White and McDougall both agreed that while they’re open for collaboration in some aspects, the city should control permitting and other inspections.
Homelessness and public drug use
Homelessness was one of the hot topics for every debate, and Chehalis councilors were given an opportunity to name specific strategies they would support, if elected, to address homelessness and public drug use locally.
Spahr said that there is “no easy answer” to homelessness and that the city doesn’t have the funds to do anything outside of what it is currently doing, naming the night-by-night shelter on Kresky Avenue as one potential solution.
“I understand there’s people out there who have issues and they need help, and somehow we’ve got to get to those people,” Spahr said. “Some people have just a lifestyle choice, and others, I don’t know what they’re doing.”
Carver noted that there is a spectrum of homelessness, from people living on the street to those living in cars and hotels. She stated that her goal would be to focus on improving the programs the city currently has, as well as supporting local nonprofit organizations that work on solutions such as rental assistance.
During a response to an audience question, Spahr said, “I don’t think there are winners,” when referring to the homelessness situation in Chehalis. Carver responded by stating that she’s worked in homelessness for years and that there is a pathway to helping those in need.
“Let’s look at that data. Let’s see if we can get local grants. Let’s create pathways to work with nonprofits so that it’s more efficient to get services covered,” she said. “Let’s make sure we get the homeless shelter open and running. Let’s find ways that we can partner with those agencies that are trying to work in our area, whether it’s the churches or Salvation Army. I think there’s so much more we can do.”
Carns explained that the first thing he did as a council member was tour homeless camps with the health department and state Rep. Peter Abbarno and other elected officials. He also said he returned to the camps alone at night.
“It was heartbreaking. I offered to take a gentleman to the hospital that night because he was septic in his leg from shooting heroin,” Carns said. “Money is not the problem with the homelessness issue. The state is spending billions of dollars. They’re not spending it wisely. A treatment-first model is the only answer to fix the homeless problem in this community and in this country. Until you address the underlying mental health and addiction issues that 80% of the chronically homeless face, you will never get them off the streets for any length of time.”
While Snodgrass agreed with Carns that a treatment-focused approach is necessary, he said it should not be the “only arrow in our quiver.”
He, like Carver, explained the need to support nonprofits, faith-based organizations and other non-governmental organizations.
McDougall, who works in behavioral health and serves as the vice chair on the Lewis County Public Health and Social Services Advisory Board, said she doesn’t want to see what happened in Seattle happen in Chehalis, referring to homelessness and public drug use. Mental health, housing and insurance were three of the biggest topics she discussed in her response.
White added that the city needs to prioritize prosperity and job opportunities.
“We need to be able to provide the jobs. We need to stop making the city a burden on the people with fixed incomes,” White said. “Let’s address putting people into homelessness with our taxes. Let’s make sure it’s affordable to live here.”
