The upcoming November election is going to affect Kent homeowners in significant ways, depending on who sits on the City Council.
Jim Berrios and Ken Sharp are both opponents of the business and occupation (B&O) tax recently enacted to address the deterioration of our roads, which is primarily caused by the heavy 16- and 18-wheelers used by the business owners in the Kent Valley. The valley houses the fourth largest small-industrial complex in the United States.
You cannot venture out on any major street in Kent without seeing these heavy trucks lumbering across our fragile roads. The valley floor is not well suited for the transport of tons of products because the valley floor is like all valley landscape – consisting mainly of sand and loam. Our roads are not adequately reinforced so they are susceptible to damage which needs constant patching and resurfacing.
The Kent City Council consistently depended on homeowner taxation (before the enactment of the B&O tax) to fund the repairs of the roads, instead of laying the bill at the door of the businesses in Kent that cause the problem.
Most recently, the City Council tried to wrap the road-improvement levy into a package with park improvements to try to get the voters to again swallow the bill for road repairs. The voters were too smart for this dodge, and voted it down as they should have. Kent residents are not averse to park improvement, but not when tacked on to a tax for road repairs.
We have candidates for both the council and the mayor’s office. The clear choices, especially for homeowners who intend to vote in their self-interest, is Wade Schwartz (not Jim Berrios) for one City Council seat and Bailey Stober (not Ken Sharp) for the other City Council seat. Schwartz supports the B&O tax (Berrios, a Kent Chamber power broker, wants to eliminate the B&O tax and put it back on homeowners’ shoulders). Stober supports the B&O tax (Sharp opposes the B&O tax and also has a pending legal battle involving alleged impropriety regarding a relative’s funds).
The mayoral race pits incumbent mayor Suzette Cooke against former City Councilman Tim Clark. It seems like it time for a change in City Hall. The mayor has shown herself to be uncooperative with City Council members and exudes a somewhat dictatorial manner that grates. While Cooke is eager to show up at social functions, she’s much more vested in political one-upsmanship than in the personal interactions that inspire wholesome cooperation with a city staff. She seems somehow detached – going through the motions of empathy rather than the express indications of the real thing. She doesn’t mingle, she’s there more to officiate than appreciate.
Tim Clark, on the other hand, has spent many years working cooperatively in the school district – a commitment which requires good personal one-on-one relationships with staff in order to effectively address their diverse problems as well as those of parents and children. Clark has devoted his life to the enrichment and well-being of the citizens of Kent. His involvement both with city government and the school district makes him the superior choice this November for mayor of our growing city.
– Sandra Gill
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