Enumclaw Courier-Herald, October 30, 2013

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SEE INSIDE: Wally’s World | Page 6 . . . . Marianne Binetti | 11 . . . Women in Business | Page 13

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Wednesday, October 30, 2013 | 75 cents

Obituaries.........................Page 5 Views...................................Page 6 Sports.................................Page 8 Education.........................Page 9 Classified...........................Page 21

WEBSITE | Check the website for breaking news and weather updates. www.courierherald.com

Turn Clocks Saturday

Weather The forecast for today, Wednesday, calls for mostly cloudy skies and highs near 52 with variable winds. Overnight lows drop to 38. There is a 50 percent chance of rain Thursday and Friday with highs to 52 and lows to 40. Saturday and Sunday’s forecast rain with highs in the low 50s and lows to 40.

Enumclaw City Council candidate debate - Part II Editor’s Note: For the second week City Council candidates for positions one, three, five and seven responded to three in-paper debate questions presented by the editorial department and columnist Rich Elfers. The candidates are : Position No. 1 Morgan Irwin. Pamela Harding has withdrawn although her statement is in the voter’s pamphlet. Position No. 3: Mike Sando. Shelby DeVol has withdrawn. Position No. 5: Tom Mann and Juanita Carstens. Position No. 7: Hoke Overland and Sean Krebs.

Question 1: During last Wednesday’s city budget workshop, it was announced Creationfest will be ending its contract to use the Expo Center with the city. What should the city do with the Expo Center considering there will be an additional $60,000-$80,000 deficit to Expo reserves? Carstens: Losing CreationFest is a blow but with a facility like the

Expo Center we are always going to be looking for new groups and new events to use the venue. Attracting events and marketing the facility to a Juanita Carstens wide range of users has to be first and foremost on the agenda. We should target smaller groups, like farmer’s markets, entrepreneurs that have wares to sell, as well as larger groups, like the Highland Games and the Olympic Kennel Club Dog Show, which are popular. Filling the calendar will benefit not only the profitability of the Expo Center but it will also be great for our local businesses. City administrators, council and expo staff are diligently working with purpose to best address this question. Mann: As a candidate I don’t have all the facts needed to make the best decision for the residents of Enumclaw, but I do have some thoughts and envision Enumclaw being competitive with other medi-

um-sized venues. I continue to believe, we need to stay the course. Expo Center Management has done a good job cutting deficit Tom Mann spending by close to $250,000 over the past couple of years and I believe they will do their best to backfill and offset this loss of revenue. To begin we should explore the King County parks levy and grants. Longer term, we may need to consider a request for pricing from the private sector to manage and maintain the facility. We could easily craft the pricing request to protect the jobs of the existing workforce.

Question 2: Address any issue not yet addressed in the campaign. Carstens: For those of us who live here, Enumclaw is a fabulous community. We have good schools, churches, charity organizations and a lot of citizen involve-

ment. One thing that I believe to be important to the health of our community is managing future growth and building. As a retired Realtor, I have a unique perspective on the future housing needs of not only our current residents but also those who would like to move here and make Enumclaw their home. I am looking forward to using a commonsense, proactive approach when dealing with future growth. Mann: During Wednesday’s workshop, it was confirmed that funding was previously set aside and proposed in the budget to pay for a special ballot measure to fund road repair consistent with Enumclaw’s Transportation Benefit District. With many of our roads crumbling, why haven’t we engaged our citizens in a meaningful way to explain we have needed a funding mechanism since 2007? This is when the city last hired a consultant and contemplated developing a pavement management program. The longer we wait, the more expensive it is for needed repairs. I

See DEBATE, Page 3

Buckley looks to sell gas system By Kevin Hanson Senior Writer

Contact Us! Main Desk 360-825-2555

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White River High’s newest Daffodil Princess, Sidney Riess, is crowned by reigning princess Jessica Gamble. Last week’s pageant took place on the Buckley campus. Photo by Kyle Stroh Count the number of turkeys for a chance to win 1 of 5 Smoked Turkeys from OLSON’S MEATS!

Hunt theTurkeys

PLAY ALL THREE WEEKS!

CONTEST

The city of Buckley hopes to sell its natural gas system and has a willing buyer in Puget Sound Energy – now it’s up to the voting public to decide. Proposition No. 1 appears on the general election ballot. The idea of selling off the natural gas utility has been years in the making, as the notion of a small town maintaining its own system became increasingly difficult. Ever-increasing regulatons placed on the natural gas industry have made it

difficult for small operators to provide the service at a competitive price. Added to the mix are costs of upkeep on an aging system and the often-volatile open market. Finally, earlier this year, members of the Buckley City Council decided to put the natural gas system up for sale, using a competitive bid process. A few suitors expressed interest but, in the end, only Puget Sound Energy jumped in. PSE offered 5.4 million, slightly more than the city had hoped to get. The city had previously polled its citizens and received resounding support for unloading the gas

system. A sale to PSE may benefit both private citizens and Buckley businesses if early numbers are to be believed. Information found in the current voters pamphlet notes that PSE’s residential rates are up to 10 percent less that the city now charges, while PSE’s business rate is, on average, 6 percent less than the city’s. A citizen group favoring the sale adds that Buckley is unable to provide many of the incentives PSE has at its disposal – things like rebates on energey-efficient appliances and weatherization programs.

How does it work? Grab a copy of the Courier-Herald’s print edition (or read our Green Edition) for Nov 6, Nov. 13 and Nov. 20. Count the turkeys you find in each edition. Register online at our website, facebook or any mobile tablet to play and enter the correct number of turkeys for each week’s paper. Just click on the Turkey Contest and play - That Simple! (Must be 13 or older to play. See official rules online. Winning entries will be drawn on Nov. 25, 9am for 1of 5 turkeys.)

courierherald.com or blscourierherald.com or visit us on

TURKEY IMAGE

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What’s Inside

www.courierherald.com

☛ Not to be included for contest count!


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