By Dennis Box

The Courier-Herald

Bonney Lake and Pierce County residents will head to the polls Nov. 8 to choose a new city mayor, council members, fire commissioners, school board members and charter review positions.

The city of Bonney Lake will attract considerable attention with two contested races. Councilmen Neil Johnson and Jim Rackley are competing for the mayor's chair after Mayor Bob Young lost his bid for a third term.

Melvain Donyes and Deputy Mayor Dan Swatman are looking to fill the At Large 1 seat on the City Council. Johnson holds the seat now, but decided to run for mayor rather than his council seat.

€ Johnson is 40 years old and works as a sales and marketing manager at Rotary Offset Press.

He and his wife, Mary Ann, have one daughter with another baby to arrive very soon. They have lived in the city for 14 years.

Johnson was elected to the At Large 1 council seat in 2001 by 58 percent. It was his first try at elective office.

Along with being a council member, Johnson is a coach for youth soccer, fastpitch and basketball.

He graduated from Seattle's Cleveland High School 1983.

His campaign has emphasized managing growth, a better relationship with the council and city staff and promoting a vision for the future of the city.

&#8220I want to control growth and let the infrastructure catch up to what's happening in the city,” Johnson said. &#8220I want more trails and sidewalks to help make our city a city.”

€ Rackley, 58, is a retired accountant and human resources manager. He was first elected to the Ward 2 council seat in 1999.

He graduated from Lakewood's Lakes High School in 1966. In 1978 Rackley graduated from the University of Puget Sound with a bachelor of arts degree in accounting and a minor in economics.

Rackley said since he is retired he will focus on being a full-time mayor.

&#8220I'm totally against uncontrolled commercial expansion, my definition of the South Hill effect,” Rackley said. &#8220I also want to emphasize listening to neighborhood concerns. When the city gets a negative reaction from a neighborhood, we have to go the extra mile to get local issues addressed.”

€ Donyes is seeking the At Large 1 council seat. It is his first attempt at elective office.

Donyes is 42 years old and a 1981 graduate of White River High School.

He attended Trinity Bible College in North Dakota in 1982 and is a 1984 graduate of Clover Park Technical College in the field of radio broadcasting.

He spent eight years in South Africa between 1988 and 1996 as a missionary and returned to Bonney Lake in 2002.

&#8220I want to work on managing growth and working with Pierce County to ensure the traffic doesn't become a larger issue,” Donyes said. &#8220I want to work together with the council and city staff and partner with those driving our economic growth.”

€ Swatman is leaving his Ward 4 seat to run against Donyes for the At Large 1 seat.

He was first appointed to his council seat in 1999 and has twice been elected by his fellow council members to serve as deputy mayor.

Swatman said he is running for the At Large seat because he does work all over the city.

He ran for the At Large 2 position in 2003, but lost to Councilman Mark Hamilton.

Swatman is 40 years old and works in Renton as a system engineer for British Petroleum.

In 1983 he graduated from Springfield High School in Oregon and later spent six years in the U.S. Navy.

&#8220Infrastructure issues need to be in place ahead of growth,” Swatman said. &#8220I have been working on a number of regional issues like Cascadia and Falling Water. Trying to find a way for the traffic to go somewhere besides through the middle of Bonney Lake.”

€ Dave King is running uncontested for his Ward 1 seat. This will be King's second term on the council.

King graduated high school in 1971 from Fabius Central School in Fabius, N. Y. In 1976 he received a bachelor of science in criminal justice from Northeastern University in Boston.

&#8220Transportation is a top issue and that includes trails and sidewalks along with roads,” King said. &#8220I also think we need a new city hall.”

€ David Bowen is running uncontested for the City Council Ward 4 seat.

Bowen is 56 years old and a lifelong resident of the Bonney Lake area. In 1967 he graduated from White River High School.

He owns Bowen's Auto and Used Cars on state Route 410 East and previously owned Bowen's Wrecking at the corner of SR 410 and South Prairie Road where Albertson's is located.

This is Bowen's second attempt at elective office. He ran for the Pierce County Council in 1990 and lost to Barbara Skinner.

&#8220Traffic is the biggest issue I want to work on,” Bowen said.

Bowen said he has recently sold his home and is not sure if he will buy a house in Ward 4.

&#8220My plan is to be on the council one year and by then I'll decide if I will buy a house locally,” Bowen said.

In other area races:

€ Tim Corliss and Barbara Skinner are facing off for Charter Review District No. 1, Position 1.

€ Incumbent Sherm Voiles and Cathy Freeman are running for Sumner School District No. 5 Director.

€ Victor Proulx and Tim Corliss are vying for East Pierce Fire and Rescue Commission, Position No. 4.

Dennis Box can be reached at dbox@courierherald.com.