Opening Candidate Forum Brings Thorny Questions Into Focus in 2011 Lakewood City Council Race

Re-routing rail service through town, opening a new gate to Camp Murray and attracting more housing and commercial development dominated the Lakewood City Council candidate forum Thursday.

Sponsored by the Tillicum Woodbrook Neighborhood Association, the public gathering attracted about 25 residents and City Council watchers to the to hear the three’s candidates speak to the issues.

Like many other cities around the state, only a handful of Lakewood’s 60,000 residents sought public office this election cycle.

Running unopposed, Deputy Mayor will retain his council seat No. 4 for four more years. Likewise, former County Councilman will fill incumbent seat No. 7, while escrow officer will replace long-time Councilwoman .

Both Neary, a two-term council member, and Thomas, who has served since the city incorporated in 1996, did not seek re-election.

Among Thursday’s hot-button issues was the proposed . Under consideration is an 18-mile stretch of existing rail owned by Sound Transit, which plans to use the same line to extend Sounder commuter-train service to Lakewood.

If approved by the Federal Railroad Administration, passenger trains from the BNSF Railway main line that runs near Point Defiance and along southern Puget Sound would be re-routed to the Sound Transit line running west alongside Interstate 5 through South Tacoma, Lakewood, Fort Lewis and DuPont.

Lakewood residents are split on the proposal, with some worried about safety, noise and traffic problems that may result. Others, however, argue that efficient rail service is essential to local economic development.

Currently, passenger trains—including the Amtrak Cascades—must reduce speed to negotiate curves and single-track tunnels on the BNSF Railway main line tracks near Point Defiance and along southern Puget Sound.

In response to whether the city should hold a public referendum on the rail proposal, City Council candidates agreed it would be pointless since regional transportation decisions and rail service are governed by state and federal agencies.

“It costs money to put a vote on the ballot,” Anderson said.  “If there was a vote, the majority of Tillicum’s populace would be against it.  The City Council has already voted 7-0 against it. We know the people here don’t want it.”

Anderson added that it is bad public policy to spend so much money on a project that will do little to improve transportation in the region.

“You’re getting railroaded—literally,” he told the audience. “The best you can hope for is for Congress to cut off funding.”

Barth, meanwhile, said city officials will “just have to watch how it plays out, take our stand and do the best we can.”

Bocchi said the danger of holding a referendum—even if only as a non-binding advisory vote—is that it may embolden decision-makers to go forward with the re-alignment if there is not overwhelming community opposition to it.

The reality, he added, is that the railroads wrote the ground rules “150 years ago when Abe Lincoln was president.  And the rules are very tilted their way.”

“The question is how much effort the city will have to expend to stop it when the chances are not that good,” Bocchi said. “The battle is at the state and federal levels.”

Other forum questions touched on the need for infrastructure improvements throughout town, especially in Tillicum. Residents wanted to know when they can expect to see sticks go up now that the city officials have approved the Tillicum Neighborhood Plan and Union Avenue improvements.

Bocchi acknowledged that Union Avenue needs work, but noted that it takes private money along with public funding to make development happen.

“You’re competing with everyone for infrastructure," he said. Parts of the community has gotten very little in the way of new infrastructure,” he said. “We have to look at needs. There needs to be a competitive process.”

Anderson said Tillicum has received a goodly portion of infrastructure funding already, particularly $13 million in sewer and road improvements.

“It’s the only place in Lakewood where it was subsidized,” he said.  “There are lots new sidewalks and streets here that other parts of the city don’t have.”

Barth did not comment, other than to say she expects to see more growth and improvement in Tillicum.

Residents also wanted to know what else, besides pumping cash into projects, the city can do to attract new housing and business to their community.

Bocchi said the city already is doing what it can by providing sewers and street improvements.

“There are community needs that need balancing against developer needs,” he said. “Five and six years ago there was money all over the world searching for new projects. That’s just not the case right now.

However, one thing the city can do is remove obstacles to planning and permitting, he said.

“We really have to watch out for obstacles we might be putting in people’s ways and try to get them out of there,” he said.

Barth said the city’s permitting process needs to be streamlined.

“Some of the common complaints I hear as an escrow officer is that it’s just hard to get through the planning and permit process,” she said. “We could fine tune it and make it a little more building friendly.”

Anderson said private enterprise is what drives development.

“What the city can do is make the field ready for the game,” he said. “One of the things is code enforcement. People don’t want to build something that’s by a junkyard.

“We can encourage people to embark on their own local improvement districts (to improve sidewalks, for example).”

Anderson said the city also needs to make sure it does not impose restrictive taxes and surcharges that scare away developers.

Yet another concern was providing better traffic access to Camp Murray and whether the City Council candidates favor Portland Avenue for that purpose.

“The question isn’t that simple,” Anderson said. “The question is what can be done to improve traffic in Tillicum. The underlying problem is two failed intersections. Nothing is going to be significantly better until those two failed intersections are reconstructed along Interstate 5.”

Camp Murray needs a new gate, Anderson said. The issue how it will affect traffic flow.

“They (the military) need to have a plan that’s workable that offers the people of Tillicum and Lakewood some assurance Portland Avenue isn’t going to be a main arterial.

Barth said the subject “has not been on my radar.”

Bocchi, meanwhile, said access along Portland Avenue would bring too much traffic on a street that was not designed for it.

“Camp Murray is a large employer,” he said.  “We have to be cooperative and good neighbors. But they do too. I’d say the same thing for JBLM.”

Initially elected in 2009, Anderson is the senior partner with the Tacoma Law Firm of Eisenhower & Carlson, where fellow Lakewood Councilman Jason Whalen also works.

Bocchi has been a budget analyst for the Pierce County Council since 2006 and previously worked at Commercial Banks as a loan officer and in loan review.  He was elected a County Councilmember in 2003 and has knowledge of local government politics.

Barth served as president of the Women's Council of Realtors, was director of the Tacoma-Pierce County Association of Realtors and is a Lakewood arts commissioner. She has been a small-business owner in town for 25 years.