Lakewood City Councilmember Walter Neary Will Step Down

Walter Neary has nothing to be afraid of, a key reason his time spent on the Lakewood City Council is approaching an end. Neary — who won the citizens' vote during two elected periods — announced he will not file for reelection. He originally defeated Todd R. Smith for position No. 7 during the 2003 primary election.

"We've restored a lot of confidence and that's one of the best things you're going to do," Neary said.

The 49-year-old Comcast public relations director melded local politics and journalism. He was the Lakewood Journal editor — a former Sound Publishing publication — and worked at a number of other newspapers like The Olympian and several in California.

He wrote some of the first print news articles about The City of Lakewood incorporating in 1996, which illustrates his passion for history and writing.

Those skills and his local government service have defined Neary's professional career. He joined the council because he thought there were so many things going right but at the same time so many things going wrong.

"I thought I could make a difference," Neary said. "After all those years of sitting and watching, there was a chance for me to be involved. I felt good about that."

At the time, Neary said, there were allegations of city fraud and suspicion about dirty politics. Some of the local politicians running for government said Lakewood was a "tax and spend city" and "a city so intent on spending money."

He didn't mind running during an election period where smear campaigns and over-spending criticism were used to win voters. In fact, he embraced helping turn the city around.

"It was theater to me," Neary jokingly said. "I wanted to come as a calming influence and restore confidence."

Between a perception of bad government spending and anti-government groups like Lakewood CARES, Neary joined the council looking to bridge a perception of bad politics and community efforts. During the primary election in 2003, he stated city government and community volunteers should work together to protect and improve parks, neighborhoods and lakes.

In retrospect, much of that has happened.

Fort Steilacoom Park has experienced improvements. Crime in Lakewood has declined and a new Shoreline Masterplan is in the works. Before his departure, he will have contributed to extending sewers to Tillicum and Woodbrook.

Neary isn't completely detaching himself from serving on local government groups, but he would like more time to spend with his family. He wants to remain involved with the Lakewood Historical Society and Historic Fort Steilacoom Association and will be joining the board of Auburn Youth Resources and other groups related to his job. He also hopes to serve on at least one of Lakewood's citizen advisory committees.

"I'm really disconnected with a lot of things I miss doing," Neary said. "Now is the time to do this. A citizen can be extremely effective and not be on the council."

Some of the projects Neary said he's particularly proud of are providing signs at Fort Steilacoom Park to embrace its history and helping to start the Lakewood Historical Museum by leveraging dollars through lodging tax fund.

He considers his defining moments as maintaining the city's history and economic development.

Lakewood Mayor Doug Richardson said Neary has been an advocate to keep the cost of government down, pointing to a conservative and fiscally responsible frame of mind.

"His journalism background was huge," said Richardson, who was elected during city incorporation in 1996. "From that standpoint he was ensuring we had openness in government and (he was) concerned about the open public meeting act. He was a complete champion of that. He didn’t want three councilmembers talking at the same time."

Lakewod city councilmember Claudia Thomas said Neary was good at sending information pertaining to the city through his blog.

"He was good at asking questions and requesting info for clarification which was a value," Thomas said. "He was very strong about making sure we preserved the history of the city. That's a tremendous, valuable asset. His dedication to that is really good."

The council saw a significant turnaround this past election period when three members, including Helen McGovern and Ron Cronk, did not file for reelection. Thomas has neither confirmed or denied she will file for reelection, which could mean five councilmembers with less than two years of experience would represent the city's major governing body.

Neary background

Neary grew up in Sacramento, Calif., and attended Jesuit High School. After high school, he earned a bachelor's in history and then a masters in journalism from Columbia University.

He met his wife Cindy while in graduate school and they returned to California where Neary worked for a couple newspapers. They moved to Washington in 1994, and Neary worked for The Lakewood Journal from 1994 to 1996. After a business editor stint at The Olympian, Neary was a science writer for the University of Washington from 1999 to 2004.

For a while, he was commuting from Lakewood to Seattle.

Neary's stance during his first race was: Applying common sense to government, with an emphasis on public protection, fiscal responsibility with limited taxation and open government that is customer-service oriented among others.

He has seen through some of those initiatives and continues to stand by them. He wrote an electronic newsletter for the public, and viewed it as an important mission because he felt like nobody had a clue what was happening around the city. Neary has a Twitter account and keeps his own blog about Lakewood news called Neary-sighted.

Education:

• Bachelor's degree in history, University of San Francisco
• Master's degree in journalism, Columbia University, New York

Civic, political experience and activities:

• Occupation: Public Relations Manager, Comcast.
• Past president and current board member, Historic Fort Steilacoom Association, Lakewood.
• Former editor, The Lakewood Journal.
• Former chairman, City of Lakewood's Landmarks and Heritage Advisory Board.
• Living history re-enactor (portraying Charles Prosch, pioneer newspaper publisher).
• St. Frances Cabrini Church.
• Lakewood First Lions Club.
• Board Member Lakewood Historical Society.
• Co-author of the book, "Images of America: Lakewood" (Arcadia, 2005).
• ArtsFund Pierce County Allocations Committee.
• Board of Directors, Greater Tacoma Convention and Trade Center Public Facilities District.