The Centralia-Chehalis Chamber of Commerce brought local political candidates together for a round of debates for the second day in a row Thursday.
The chamber debate opened its doors on the second floor of O'Blarney's at 10:30 a.m. Thursday with the first debate beginning at 11 a.m. Unlike the debate the night before hosted by The Chronicle, the chamber debate invited only candidates running for council and port commission seats in Centralia and Chehalis. The second debate in 12 hours was tamer than the one held on the Centralia College campus the night before, which played host to a larger audience.
Each candidate got the chance to give opening and closing statements and answer three questions. The questions were tailored to each of the positions with candidates for Chehalis City Council answering Chehalis-specific questions and so on.
Incumbent candidates were given the privilege of introducing themselves first. Each candidate also had two rebuttal cards they could use to respond to an opponent. Unlike the event the night before, the candidates did not field questions from the audience.
The chamber event was moderated by KELA/KMNT radio broadcaster Ryan Trotter and chamber board member Jeff Yanish. Lindy Waring, also of KELA/KMNT radio and a former chamber of commerce executive board chair, operated as time keeper, keeping candidates accountable to the clock.
Chehalis City Council
All six candidates for Chehalis City Council attended the chamber’s debate event. Position 1 opponents incumbent and Chehalis Mayor Pro Tem Kate McDougall and challenger Elijah White started off the event followed by Position 2 candidates incumbent Kevin Carns and Jack-Allen Snodgrass. The last of the Chehalis City Council debates featured Position 3 candidates incumbent Bob Spahr and challenger Jessie Carver.
Each candidate did their best to distinguish themselves during their time speaking; however, many candidates seemed to largely agree on priorities. Two issues, annexation and Darigold's departure, popped up repeatedly from open to close and also made their mark on the questions asked of each candidate.
For Chehalis council candidates, moderators started off asking for the candidate's top priorities for the city over the next five years. Secondly, the moderators asked for specifics on how the Chehalis City Council could improve public safety. The questioning finished by candidates being asked how they would promote economic growth.
The order varied, but each candidate, almost without fail, responded that balancing the city’s budget, improving public safety and supporting responsible growth through the annexation of the city’s urban growth area would be top of mind over the next five years.
In the first debate, McDougall painted herself as the senior official and second in command in Chehalis, with the necessary experience to guide the city through the current annexation process. White, on the other hand, highlighted a “tough on crime” stance and insisted the budget needed closer attention.
Carns and Snodgrass also shared priorities but differed in their views on annexation. Carns notably split with all the other candidates, who for the most part expressed outward support for annexation. Carns instead argued that the move needed further scrutiny.
“I am still agnostic on annexation,” Carns said. “I think there's still a lot of data pieces missing, and (we) need to know if it makes good sense, one for the current citizens that we represent, and two, for the people that we will annex into the city if we can deliver those core services within the budget. Everything goes back to that number one issue: can we afford this?”
Spahr and Carver were the last to speak. During the debate, Spahr leaned on his experience in the role serving on the council for more than 30 years. Carver highlighted her position as a young parent, a former attorney and as someone who lives with a disability.
“I may not be able to stand up, but I can stand up for you,” Carver said in closing.
Centralia City Council
The Centralia City Council debates were relatively lackluster compared to the others with one candidate, Lisa Striedinger, being absent and another candidate, Kevin Curtis, running unopposed. As a result, both Curtis and District 1 incumbent Norm Chapman answered their questions solo without facing an opponent. The only debate for this portion of the event was between candidates for Centralia City Council District 2, Ray Chapman-Wilson and Leah Sisemore.
Moderators also asked Centralia candidates about their priorities for the next five years before moving on to ask each candidate about their feelings of a business and operation tax in the city and their thoughts on the recent moratorium on large warehouses by the Centralia City Council.
Once again, like those from Chehalis, the Centralia candidates gave largely similar responses to the questions. Every candidate was opposed to the prospect of a business and operations tax in Centralia while opinions on the recent moratorium were more split. Chapman stood apart from the rest, defending his recent vote in support of the warehouse moratorium. Others, such as opponents Chapman-Wilson and Sisemore, however, criticized the move, saying that it represented a breakdown in communication and could have been prevented with more proactive measures.
Port of Centralia
As Kevin Curtis alluded to at the end of his time speaking for his Centralia position, many at the Thursday event came to see the verbal sparring match between Port Of Centralia Commission District 2 candidates incumbent Julie Shaffley and challenger Ally Pickard.
In her opening statements, Shaffley spoke of her 10 years as a Port of Centralia commissioner and many more years as a local business owner. Pickard highlighted her own experience, with 15 years in financial management, and introduced her main message of the debate — that port taxes were too much to bear.
“Did you know we pay more on property taxes to the port than we do our library?” Pickard said.
Out of the gate, the candidates were asked to describe their vision for the Port of Centralia in terms of the best uses for port property. Next, the debate moderators asked what infrastructure improvements will be needed to attract business to the port. The final question was how the city and port could have avoided the recent moratorium.
In responding to the questions, Shaffley ultimately represented not just herself but also the port and its recent successes. She used the time to defend the port and point to recent developments like Centralia Station, which recently welcomed the first WinCo Foods location in the area.
“In the last 10 years that I've been a port commissioner, the port has had tremendous growth,” Shaffley said. “We’ve been busy, and there are more exciting projects to come.”
In addition to focusing on the port-generated tax burden, Pickard represented a critique of the port’s conduct during meetings, which has frequently been criticized for a perceived lack of transparency and civility from Executive Director Kyle Heaton.
Pickard did her best to highlight those moments and connect Shaffley to them.
“I believe the port is one of our most powerful tools for growth, but it needs to be used responsibly and wisely and with all stakeholders,” Pickard said. “This race is about accountability, common sense and a port that reflects the values of its citizens.”
The two were opposed on basically every issue, but taxes and warehouse development took center stage. Pickard criticized the port for recent and future warehouse development and for not operating without a tax levy on the rolls, or at least a reduced rate.
“I believe that the community needs a stronger voice in what's coming to the port,” Pickard said. “I believe that (it) is clear from the study that was just released that the port's focus is on warehouses, and as you heard from every city councilor before, as well as the unanimous vote for the moratorium, Harrison Avenue cannot handle more distribution centers.”
Shaffley confronted the tax question at the start and revisited it in her closing remarks, refuting the idea that the port raises taxes unfairly and pointing to the port's history of passing up chances to raise local property taxes. She pointed out that the port had only raised its taxes by the maximum allowed in two for the previous 10 years during the construction of Centralia Station.
“Without that investment, the community would not have WinCo or any other future tenants,” Shaffley said. “Those levy taxes are reinvested into our community. They're reinvested as infrastructure. Let's take Centralia Station. We brought the infrastructure there. We brought sewer water and fiber optics. We brought that in so that the community can grow.”
