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WEEKEND 14,2014 WWW.ARLINGTONTIMES.COM WEEKENDEDITION EDITION DECEMBER JUNE 8, 2014 WWW.ARLINGTONTIMES.COM 75¢ 75¢
Herald THE SUNDAY
An Edition of
Arlington salaries questioned BY KIRK BOXLEITNER kboxleitner@marysvilleglobe.com
Community: Frozen star a big hit. Page 14.
Vets: Military Day
honors vets. Page 17.
INDEX CLASSIFIED ADS 18-21 LEGAL NOTICES OPINION SPORTS WORSHIP
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ARLINGTON — Salary increases are always a hot button for city government. But it is even more so when the city won't itemize what those increases are for the public. Council Member Debora Nelson brought up the issue at the Arlington City Council’s Dec. 8 workshop on the 2015 budget. “Are you comfortable saying that the city’s needs are being met by this budget, with these salary increases included?” Nelson asked Community and Economic Development Director Paul Ellis. Ellis answered, “We did as much as we could to balance this budget, not only financially, but also in terms of city services. No one department makes Arlington what it is. We wanted to spread the wealth between areas including parks, streets and
“I had to hear about the city administrator’s contract on the street.” Marilyn Oertle, Council member public safety, to take care of concerns that had gotten left behind.” Council Member Marily Oertle echoed Nelson's concerns about the “significant pay increases to some positions.” “We have excellent employees, but some of these salary increases are out of line with reality,” Oertle said. “I had to hear about the city administrator’s contract on the street. We’re not being given the data to compare ourselves to the rest of Western Washington.” SEE SALARY, PAGE 2
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Vol. 124, No. 71
Kirk Boxleitner/Staff Photo
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Paul Ellis and Roxanne Guenzler explain 2015 budget.
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Kirk Boxleitner/Staff Photo
Santa greets little Korraline and her father, John Reynolds Sr., outside of Cascade Valley Hospital.
Santa gives candy canes, collects food for the poor BY KIRK BOXLEITNER kboxleitner@marysvilleglobe.com
ARLINGTON — For more than two decades, the Arlington Fire Department has been delighting children and helping the food bank through its annual “Santa Run” food drive. Arlington firefighters and community volunteers will again be escorting Santa on a festively decorated fire truck through several of the town’s neighborhoods during the evenings. They will be collecting non-perishable food and cash donations for the Arlington Community Food Bank from 6-8 p.m. through Friday, Dec. 12, and from 5:30-8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 13-14. Fire Capt. Dave Kraski reported that volunteer crews of close to 15 per
night collected approximately 450 pounds of food Dec. 5, 620 pounds Dec. 6 and 520 pounds Dec. 7, as well as an estimated $200 over the weekend. “Those numbers are fairly consistent with last year, which was our biggest year yet,” said Kraski. He noted that the nightly hauls of 2013 were up to 40 percent larger than they’d been the year before, when the “Santa Run” set its previous records of more than 6,000 pounds of food and $500 in cash in 2012. “Some of the neighborhoods we haven’t hit yet are often our biggest donors. So I think our biggest nights are yet to come,” he added Dec. 8. Kraski explained that this event is the largest annual contributor to the Arlington food bank, typically collect-
ing around 5,000 pounds per year. While the Arlington Santa Run’s website at www. santarun.net has been live for a few years, offering PDF maps of the Santa Run routes for each evening, last year allowed Arlington residents to “like” the Santa Run’s Facebook page for the first time, at www.facebook. com/afdsantarun, where they can find further information. “The existing website has been a great way to let the community know where Santa will be, but we’d love to see people posting their pictures of the Santa Run on our Facebook page this year,” Cascade Valley Hospital community relations coordinator Jennifer Egger said. SEE SANTA, PAGE 2
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