Arlington candidates attend 'meet and greet'

Arlington City Council and Arlington and Lakewood school board candidates introduced themselves to the community at a ‘meet and greet’ event on Oct. 12.

The Stilly Valley Chamber of Commerce hosted the event for various candidates who will be on the ballot for the upcoming Nov. 2 general election.

Ballots have been sent out and are due by 8 p.m. on Nov. 2.

Arlington City Council Pos. 3

Incumbent Debora Nelson will be challenged by Avery Hufford in the race for this Arlington City Council seat.

Hufford said he has lived as a renter for the past six years in Arlington.

“I know what it’s like to be poor and know a lot of people in this area that are poor,” he said.

He is also a small-business owner.

One of the biggest challenges in Arlington is the incoming urbanization, said Hufford.

“I left [Edmonds] because I was getting tired of all that,” he said. “I’m afraid that without proper planning the growth is going to make this area look like Lynnwood or Tukwila."

Hufford acknowledges the city of Arlington, like all cities in the state, must plan for and accommodate growth according to the Washington Growth Management Act, but said that growth has to be managed correctly.

“I know what it looks like when the area starts to get a little too big and the growth is not properly managed,” he said.

Nelson is the incumbent candidate and a former small-business owner in the community.

“I am running again because I have a passion for our city and our citizens,” she said.

She got involved in her community at a young age because her aunt had cerebral palsy and her grandparents helped to push for more support for those with disabilities.

“They were the beginners of fighting for ADA in our county and in our state,” said Nelson.

In Washington state Nelson has served on a number of regional boards during her time on the City Council.

“By bringing the voice of Arlington to King County and Pierce County it kept us at the table so we can bring grant money to Arlington,” she said.

Projects like the roundabout at 204th Street came to Arlington because of the grant funding Council members have been able to push for, she said.

Unopposed Arlington City Council Candidates

Incumbents Don Vanney, Heather Logan and Jan Schuette are all running unopposed in the November election and spoke at the meet and greet event.

Vanney is a long-time Arlington resident who was appointed to the Council 18 months ago and said it has been a good learning experience.

“I think with the visions I have been seeing that Arlington is on a good path,” he said.

He believes in support for law enforcement and hopes recent state legislature laws can be changed.

For 40 years he has also been a Special Olympics coach.

“We do have a lot to do for ADA in our city. That is one of my goals on the Council,” he said.

Schuette spent 18 years as a high school principal in Yakima Valley and Stanwood before retiring and getting into local politics.

She said the biggest change the Council and Mayor Barbara Tolbert have been able to make is advocating for more state funding to come to the area.

“I’ve had multiple legislators tell me ‘wow, I can’t go anywhere without hearing about Arlington,’” she said. “It does bring in a lot more money."

Logan was appointed to the City Council last month and is a long-time member of the Arlington community.

She hopes to support the city’s embedded social worker program and said that it needs to continue in the city.

Career opportunities for young people is also important to Logan.

“We have this group of young adults who maybe don’t want to go college or tech schools, they want to go to the job market,” she said. “We need to be able to offer that kind of life at a good wage to recent graduates who choose the job path right off."

Arlington School Board Director District 5

Two first-time candidates, Erica Knapp and Ryiad Cooper, are competing for the Pos. 5 Arlington School District board of directors seat.

Cooper has lived in Arlington since 2017, although his daughter attended the district even before that.

“We made a choice to send her to the Arlington School District over where we lived,” said Cooper.

Quality of the teachers and facilities is important to Cooper.

“We need competent, intelligent well-paid teachers. We need buildings that are not only good work spaces for our teachers but also good work spaces for our students,” he said.

Post Middle School is one facility he singled out that needed to be replaced.

“Every day I used to drive to Post Middle School and pick up my daughter,” said Cooper, who added he parked in the field instead of a parking lot because of a lack of space.

He said “there is no reason” that Arlington should have a facility like that.

Knapp has lived in Arlington for about 15 years and has three boys in the Arlington School District.

One of her children does have special needs and has an IEP (an individualized education plan meant to meet a children’s learning needs).

“I really feel like voices like his and mine for special needs students are really important to have at the table where decisions are being made,” said Knapp.

She said the district needs to be careful with its spending while it doesn’t have as high a student population as it usually does.

“While enrollment is down it is presenting budgeting challenges so I look forward to supporting a smart use of funds,” she said.

Finally, she hopes to encourage more people to support schools and have their voice heard.

“One thing I would like to see is more community involvement,” she said.

Lakewood School District Director District 5

Leah Tocco is running unopposed for the Lakewood school board director district 5 position.

She has a freshman at Lakewood High School and twins who currently attend English Crossing Elementary.

“I’ve been involved in the school district through PTA meetings and last year was part of the reopening committee,” said Tocco.

“This past year and a half has been a challenging one but I’m really proud of the work Lakewood has done to support our students and staff,” and she said she looks forward to continuing that.