Payne, Young for Gig Harbor City Council

IT’S A DOWN election year for the City of Gig Harbor with only two contested positions in five total races. Four City Council seats will be decided in the general election on Nov. 3, including the uncontested spots for council members Steve Ekberg and Paul Kadzik, and for Mayor Chuck Hunter. All will be reaffirmed through 2013.

Yet the council could receive a shakeup in the two other races, where incumbents Tim Payne and Derek Young are facing respective challenges from Mark Hoppen and Ken Asplund. We endorse both Payne and Young to continue their service on the council, because their independent, challenging voices may not be heard otherwise.

The race for Position 1 is the more intriguing of the two, because Payne, while he currently holds the seat, is the relative newcomer. Hoppen, who has lived in Gig Harbor for 55 years, was a council member from 1990-92 before he spent 15 years as city administrator, and he’s worked for the City of Puyallup since 2006.

Payne, a view basin resident for the past eight years, has served the council well in his first term. He was instrumental in pushing the city to use Washington lobbyists to help secure nearly $2 million in federal funding for projects such as daylighting at Donkey Creek Park and the Boys & Girls Club.

The candidates agree on many aspects of city government, including the ongoing importance of managing a sustainable budget, as well as infrastructure issues like roads and the wastewater treatment plant, and partnerships with community organizations.

One major point they disagree on is the proposed development at the former Ancich property on Grandview Street, known as the “Gateway to Gig Harbor,” which would put large, mixed-use buildings in the view basin. Hoppen says the size and scope of the buildings, which would require an amendment to the city’s Comprehensive Plan, should be discussed by the Planning Commission, not the city council, while Payne says the concept should be discussed by the council with public input — just like a proposal for a full-size Fred Meyer on Gig Harbor’s west side.

While Hoppen is a worthy candidate, he doesn’t make a strong enough case to bump Payne after one term. Payne has been in the heat of the key discussions for the past four years, while Hoppen has been out of the game — in Gig Harbor, at least — for the past three years.

The race for Position 2 is similar in that Asplund, the challenger, has more local family history than Young. The 1978 Peninsula High School graduate is a third-generation resident who works for Saxon Painting LLC and is involved with civic organizations like the Gig Harbor Eagles and Paint Tacoma-Pierce County Beautiful. He would be another voice for preserving the historic character of the city, and he promises a fresh vision for the three distinct areas of town.

However, Young has served three successful terms since he was first elected in 1997 — three years after he graduated from Gig Harbor High School — and understands how the city operates. He was the most outspoken supporter of the Boys & Girls Club, and he worked with state representatives to pass legislation for a Hospital Benefit Zone, which allows the city to match sales tax figures up to a certain amount for continued growth.

In these tough economic times, we should stick with those who best understand the city’s economic situation in order to weather the storm.