Five aim to be next Buckley mayor
Published 12:03 pm Thursday, December 11, 2008
By Shawn Skager
The Courier-Herald
On Sept. 20 Buckley residents will head to the polls to decide which two mayoral candidates, from a field of five, will move on to the Nov. 8 general election.
Among the hopefuls vying for the top spot in Buckley's municipal government are current Mayor John Blanusa, council members Pat Johnson, Beverly Schneider and Randy Reed, as well as resident Mark McNally.
John Blanusa
For most of his life, John Blanusa ran a logging business.
"I ran the Blanusa Logging Company for more than 40 years," he said. "I retired 15 years ago."
Not long after his retirement, Blanusa, who has lived in Buckley his entire life, decided to run for mayor.
"The reason I ran originally is that we didn't have good streets," he said. "Now every street has been fixed. It was so bad that some of the cars were hitting bottom and a mail man refused to go down a couple of streets."
According to Blanusa, he used the same business acumen that made him successful in the logging industry to help run the city.
"I rebuilt the streets and put in sidewalks," he said. "And I did it without costing the city a dime. We never had to do an LID (local improvement district)."
According to Blanusa, he obtained the money for the street improvements by moving the sewer mains out from the alleys where they were originally and into the streets. Blanusa said because the streets had to be torn up to fit the new mains, the Department of Ecology was on the hook to pay for rebuilding the streets.
"That's from being in business and knowing how to make a deal," Blanusa said.
Now in his third term as mayor, Blanusa said he hopes to continue using his business sense to guide the city.
"I'm going to keep the city going in the same direction," Blanusa said. "I'll keep the rates low, we've got the lowest natural gas in the state. I negotiated those rates myself. I've been negotiating with big timber companies my whole life, so I know how to negotiate. You have to run the city like a business, or it will get out of control."
Blanusa also said he plans to continue to work on retaining the character of the city.
"I started the log show 32 years ago," he said. "We all want to keep that small town feel, that's why everyone wants to move in. But the pillage is about to begin, once you let the gates open up. I'll do everything in my power to stop that from happening."
Blanusa said he'd do that by maintaining the city's development standards.
"You need to have big lots, wide streets and keep them from putting a bunch of houses on every acre," he said.
"Every living breath I take, every morning when I get up in the morning and look in the mirror, I realize that there are 4,600 people who are my bosses," Blanusa said. "And every living breath I take is for this city."
Pat Johnson
For the past 16 years Buckley, city councilmember Pat Johnson has served her city.
"I've been on the City Council for 14 years and two years on the Planning Commission before that," she said.
According to Johnson, who was raised in Buckley, she first became involved with public life as a community activist, trying to help guide the development of the city.
"There was group that was trying to buy up all of the vacant lots in the city and put houses on them," she said. "At the time we didn’t have adequate standards in place."
Her involvement led her to serve on the Planning Commission, then to accept a post as city councilmember when a vacancy opened.
Now, Johnson said she is taking the next logical step to serve her community by running for mayor.
"I have a real passion for this town," she said. "Buckley has soul. It has heart. We may not be perfect, but the people care about each other and the town."
"This city is my home," Johnson continued. "I want it to be the best it can be. I'm a hard worker and not afraid of hard work or going out and representing this city."
According to Johnson, there are several issues that need to be dealt with, most regarding future growth.
"As far as the city goes, we need to have a broader tax base," she explained. "Without it the homeowner is burdened more than they should be. There used to be more stores in the city than there are now, and we need to bring in some more small businesses, something to broaden our tax base."
"We need to be more business friendly and rethink our B&O tax," Johnson said. "We need to ask ourselves, 'are we losing businesses because of it?' We may need to rethink it."
"I'm tired of going to Enumclaw and Bonney Lake for everything," she said. "I don't mean we need big box stores, but we need to attract businesses that will draw people into town. Whether that is becoming an art town or restaurants or antique stores, we need to look at what has worked in other cities, like Leavenworth. We need to draw people in and the tourist dollar is the cleanest business dollar you can have."
Johnson said now that she has retired after 27 years in the dental field, she is in a unique position to devote her efforts to the city.
"I have the experience," she said. "I have the time because now I'm retired."
Johnson also believes her experience serving on regional boards, such as the Rails to Trails Coalition, would aid her.
"I'm not afraid to go and ask for money (for the city)," she said. "It's important that people know about Buckley."
Mark McNally
Mark McNally, 52, has been a resident of Buckley since 1994.
Originally drawn to the area because its small-town atmosphere, McNally said he believes the people should be the driving force behind city government.
"I'm running because I think I could bring in some new ideas to Buckley and make sure its citizens are heard," he said. "My campaign focus is the that voice of the citizens will build this community."
McNally, who has been married for 12 years to a longtime Buckley resident, believes his experiences dealing with people in his profession - a firefighter and emergency medical technician with the Federal Way Fire Department - will aid him as mayor.
"I know how to listen to people," he said. "I understand people. I deal with them every day in my job and each is different, so I have to listen to them and deal with them differently."
McNally said that one of the reasons he is running for mayor is to help the city and its infrastructure stay one step ahead of development.
"I want to make sure the developers help support the sewer system, the police and the fire departments," he said. "I would look at different fees and make sure that money stays in Buckley instead of staying in the developers pockets."
"Two of my children live here," McNally said. "I want all of my children, the other four, to be able to afford to live here."
McNally had praise for some of the city's services.
"I think the fire department and the police department, as well as the utilities, are run fairly well," he said. "But they are going to need some growth before the developing is done and that needs to be in place before the developing of the city begins."
"I think that the city's residents and small businesses need to be heard by the city government," McNally added. "If their voices are actually heard we could make this town friendlier and keep it the wholesome town it is."
Randy Reed
Randy Reed is among the three current councilmembers running for mayor.
Reed, who has been on the council for 13 years, is originally from Elma, Wash., but has lived in Buckley 16 years.
"After wandering around the country a bit, I knew a lot of people in the general area and I said, 'you know, this seems like a fine place to live,'" Reed said.
Once settled into the city, Reed soon found public service calling him.
"I just wanted to become involved in the community and it was a chance to give something back." he said of his decision to serve on the City Council.
Now, Reed has thrown his hat into the mayor race.
"From a city standpoint, our fire and police departments do a amazing job with the resources we've given them," Reed said. "The fire department is the focal point of training for people, we run training programs that are attended by different departments."
Reed said one Buckley's primary appeals is community involvement.
"From a civic standpoint, community involvement is great," he said. "If you have a project or something that needs to get down people pitch in and get it done. We have the historical society, all the people that help with Rails to Trails. The Masons and Kiwanis really support education."
Although Reed was quick to point out all of the things that Buckley does well, he also acknowledged there are opportunities to make things better in several areas.
"We need to get our sewer plant upgrade completed," he said. "We also need to get a new firehouse, which we have been working on. We are getting to the point were we need to find ways to fund additional police officers. It has been several years since we've added any new bodies to the force and in that time the population has been growing. We're getting to the point were we're asking the police force to do more than they should.
"We also have surface water issues that we're trying to resolve on the south side of town," Reed added. "We need to bring those people in and find a solution to that problem that everyone can agree on financially. And we need to get the (state Routes) 410, 165 and Ryan Road mess squared away, which unfortunately requires the cooperation of the state for their part."
As for the future business development of Buckley, Reed said the city needs to attract businesses that fit the community.
"Basically I think we need to attract businesses that are Buckley sized," he said. "The big boxes are great, I shop there, but they lend nothing to the flavor of the community. One of the things we've kicked around is capitalizing on the fact that we are the doorway to Mount Rainier, the park and the national forest. We need to attract business that will capitalize on that."
According to Reed, the key is to attract companies whose size fits in with Buckley.
"The reason behind that is that when one comes or goes, and you are that size of company, there is not a huge impact," he explained. "You'd have a few new jobs and it would bring in some money and if it's managed well, you become part of the community. But I'm looking at not only from the standpoint of footprint or impact on services, but also from the standpoint of what kind of revenues and jobs it will bring in but also the worst case scenario - if they leave how bad will that affect our community."
According to Reed, his personal skills would be his greatest asset as mayor.
"I think I have good people skills can bring them together over a common solution," he said. "I have the experience from my business (computer consultant) of dealing with mom and pop businesses all the way up to Fortune 500 companies. A really good rule or regulation for one can be murder for the other. My varied experience will allow me to pull that all together."
Beverly Schneider
Beverly Schneider has lived in Buckley 15 years and served on the council for the last two.
Before that, she served the city on the Economic Committee and Planning Commission.
"We (the Economic Committee) were working on design guidelines and trying to figure out what we could do to better help businesses downtown, looking at sign codes and updating the city's comprehensive plan," she said. "After we turned the comprehensive plan over to the Planning Commission, I spent a couple of years working on that.
According to Schneider, that is one of the reasons she has decided to run for mayor.
"I want to see this whole thing through, and now I want to see it implemented properly," she said.
Schneider said her time working on the city's comprehensive plan has acquainted her with the need for balance in the city's future development.
"I think one of things we need to do is make sure that we grow slowly and controlled," she said. "Too much growth too fast can cause an overburden to our police department, fire department, streets, schools and other city services. If we don't grow at all we fall behind in revenue needed to sustain adequate services.
"I think I have the best vision for Buckley and how I would like to see it grow," Schneider continued. "I would like to see strong developmental guidelines so that when development does take place it doesn't cause rate or tax increases for current citizens. At the same time I'd like to see development that would fit in with the natural setting and enhance the quality of life here."
Schneider also said as mayor she would address the problem of attracting businesses to the city.
"I do think that we could have solid, viable businesses with strong guidelines that fit in with Buckley," she said. "There is room for growth on the highway. If we continue to work on our side streets that feed into (state Route) 410 we can maybe find a way to reroute so there is not so much traffic. We need to ask businesses to be pedestrian friendly with parking in back."
"I have worked very hard at getting grant money for the Ryan Road mess," she said. "It's one of our major intersections with about six streets (including Ryan Road, state Route 410 and state Route 162). We have received $1.6 million from the federal government. I am on the Pierce County Regional Council and I am in position to get another million to fix the whole mess and get another light. We need to make sure it's safer, because are trail is right there. It's a well loved part of our town."
"We are a small community that takes care of it's own," Schneider concluded. "We are fiscally responsible as a city and live within our means. Right now, we provide adequate services. We have a lot of potential. We could become, I think, one of the recreational capitals in the Puget Sound. We have a wonderful natural setting that is absolutely beautiful, with a mountain and a river."
Shawn Skager can be reached at sskager@cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/courierherald.
