Four candidates vie for Kirkland City Council position No. 2 during primary

Published 2:59 pm Wednesday, July 22, 2015

The race for Kirkland City Council Position No. 2 seems to be more of a competition between different leadership styles and experience rather than opposing ideological views.

Incumbent Shelley Kloba, who was appointed to the position in 2013 and won re-election, is running on her ability to collaborate with other councilmembers on accomplishing things for the city, as well as her perspective from previous work in advocacy.

“I have a record that they can look at,” she said. “(As an advocate) I know what it’s like to be on that side of the desk. I remember what kind of leader I wanted across the table from me, and I work hard to try to be that.”

Among the council’s accomplishments, she cited the city’s Triple A credit rating while keeping the price of government low, as well as the council’s progress with the Aquatic and Recreation Community (ARC) Center, which first came up while she was serving on the Kirkland Park Board.

“To see that so many people are falling in love with it… I think those are some major things that I’m pleased with,” she said.

One of Kloba’s opponents, Bill Henkens, said he brings the perspective of local business owners as well as residents who live in the 2011 annexation area of Kirkland. A 35-year resident and owner of the Game Neighborhood Bar and Grill in Juanita, he said his taxes for the business have gone up by $5,000 a year since annexation.

“Anytime you have a high taxation issue it affects your ability to give people raises,” he said.

He also said that the council needs more than one member who runs a small business in order to understand how city policies and actions impact them. Councilmember Penny Sweet runs The Grape Choice in downtown, along with her husband, State Rep. Larry Springer.

Henkens said one of the main things he would focus on if elected would be affordable housing, which he said will be needed for the new employees who come into the area once Parkplace and Totem Lake Malls are redeveloped.

“There’s going to be hundreds, maybe even a thousand of new service workers having all those retail jobs,” he said. “They need to be able to live here. Not to mention the city employees – they need to be able to live here. The 23 people I employ have a challenge finding places to live in Kirkland. It doesn’t help to have these people commute from Everett into Kirkland. Then we ban plastic bags to save the environment, and we have people drive in (to Kirkland) because they can’t afford to live here.”

One way to make housing more affordable, he suggested, would be to provide local property tax breaks for landlords who keep the rent rate the same for a certain period of time.

Another priority for Henkens is the city’s budget, which he believes should allocate funds to the departments on a needs basis in which the directors have to justify the money they request.

“The very first thing I think needs to happen is to take a look at how much money we’re collecting and how we’re spending it in terms of city government,” he said. “We need to hold down tax increases as much as possible to assist all the small business in the area [so they can] prosper.”

For Jory Hamilton, a former Boy Scout from Troop 565 on Finn Hill and recent University of Washington graduate, housing is also a main issue for the city.

“My concern is the prices are going to keep going up and up and trying to figure out what can we do to help people find a place to live in Kirkland whether they want to live in a big house or a small house,” he said. “There isn’t an easy answer.”

Jason Chinchilla, another one of Kloba’s three opponents, said he would offer a youthful enthusiasm to the council.

“I want to come in as someone who is young, who has energy, who has fresh ideas and who wants to work with Kirkland’s resident to make the city better now and in the future,” he said.

A member of the Kirkland Parks Board, he also is the youngest board member at the private high school he graduated from in Kirkland. His time volunteering with the city, he said, has made him more aware of what issues concern residents the most.

“People want to raise their children to be healthy or with healthy lifestyles, not have to get into a car to get to a park,” he said. “Being on the board let me know what Kirklanders care about, what they worry about, and what they would like the city to do.”

Chinchilla also said he’s in favor of maintaining strong neighborhood ties in the city.

“People strongly identify by those neighborhoods, and I think that’s what sets us apart,” he said. “I think Kirkland has that true community neighborhood feel to it, and going into the future I always want to protect that.”

When it comes to differentiating themselves from Kloba, both Henkens and Chinchilla have voiced their opposition to the plastic bag ban, which Kloba voted in favor of along with the other councilmembers, save for Toby Nixon. Prior to the vote, a survey showed that nearly 70 percent of those polled were opposed to a ban.

Hamilton, however, said he would have voted for the bag ban as well, saying the sample size for the survey was too small.

“I will listen to people and do my best to do what they want,” he said, “but as a leader I understand you have to do what’s unpopular sometimes.”

Kloba has defended her vote, saying she based her decision off of more than just the survey results, and that it is not an issue when she speaks to residents.

Beyond his opposition to the plastic bag ban, Henkens cited his management background experience, which he feels is more appropriate for a council position.

“I think Shelley is a really nice lady,” he said. “I just happen to possess a completely different skill set.”

Chinchilla added that he would oppose property tax increases, which by state law the city can only raise by up to one percent per year.

“I think Kirkland residents deserve a break,” he said. “I believe property taxes, if they keep going up, hurt senior citizens or people with limited incomes… it affects families and children. Whether you rent or own… it can affect you.”

Speaking with residents during door-to-door stops, Kloba said a large concern she’s heard from them is transportation and traffic congestion, which she said will require several solutions such as the construction of freeway ramps for Interstate 405 at Northeast 132nd Street, an intelligent traffic system that will offer real time adjustment for traffic signals and improvements along the 100th Avenue corridor to mitigate congestion.

“The reality is… to keep building lots of roads is not the solution that would provide us with the walking communities,” she said.