https://tricitiesvote.com/david-cole
In your own words, what are the responsibilities of members of the City Council?
City council is the legislative body of city government. Council members adopt and provide oversight of the city’s annual budget. Members provide advice and consent on the mayor’s appointments to city boards and commissions. They are involved in promoting and introducing legislation, setting policy, and actively supporting the city’s vision statement. Council members serve on various local boards and councils such as Transit, Council of Governments, etc. to represent and advance the city’s interests in the area.
What do you believe are the three most important opportunities your position can champion during your term, and how do you intend to earn community support?
- Greater transparency in city government, seeking citizen input and responding to their concerns to overcome a growing perception that the city lacks transparency and ignores citizen feedback.
- Promoting a business-friendly climate that invites new business growth while maintaining existing businesses, manages growth to prevent sprawl and congestion, and advancing family-friendly policies that strengthen
our neighborhoods. - Provide unwavering support for our
police officers.
How will you handle conflicts of interest and ethical challenges that may arise while serving as an elected official?
I would notify all parties of a potential conflict of interest and avoid even the appearance of wrongdoing by being willing to excuse myself from any vote where a conflict truly exists. For example, I believe a council member should not vote on a zoning change or business license issue for a business/industry that has provided financial support to their campaign in present or previous election cycles..
A: Citizens should elect me because I will make the best decision I can based on my experience, judgment, and beliefs.
B: Citizens should elect me because I will seek out opinions and perspectives different from my own when formulating a decision.
I will seek varying opinions and different positions when considering issues, while also relying on experience and principled decision-making with integrity in each decision.
A: The city has a role to play in cost of living and affordable housing.
B: Cost of living and housing affordability should be left solely to the market.
The city should not be picking winners and losers. Excessive government involvement creates more red tape and higher housing costs. “Affordable housing” often means low-income and/or high-density housing that affect neighborhood quality and impact property values. City involvement should be limited to permitting, compliance and alignment with the city’s comprehensive plan, and limiting densification required by the Growth Management Act.
A: The City Council should rely on the private sector to create projects that enhance culture.
B: The City Council should help fund major capital projects that enhance the vibrancy of local culture
The private sector does the best job of creating projects that enhance culture and operates best without competition from the city. Besides, this is not a valid function of city government. City resources come from taxpayers and those resources must stay prioritized to maintain public safety, delivery of city services, maintaining infrastructure, promoting a healthy business climate and strengthening family-friendly neighborhoods.
A: We should control and guide suburban sprawl even if doing so affects short-term economic growth.
B: We shouldn’t restrain free market development; it’s critical to our local economy.
Negative impacts to economic growth should always be prudent. Managed growth can and should guide urban sprawl without restraining free market forces.
A: The City Council is doing a good job of being transparent.
B: The City Council should do a much better job of being transparent.
The City Council has a role to play in leading our region to be more welcoming, inclusive, diverse, and equitable.
City council has a responsibility to focus on equality and fairness, not equity, for everyone. By focusing on fairness and equality then inclusivity and diversity will be a natural outcome for everyone. I oppose the woke definition of equity but strongly support equality for everyone. The city should not be the enforcer of policies that provide anyone with an unfair advantage over others.
https://tricitiesvote.com/kate-moran
In your own words, what are the responsibilities of members of the City Council?
The City Council has three main roles: approving a budget for the city, enacting legislation, and establishing policies. In performing these roles, council members should be good stewards of the city’s finances; promote transparency, accountability, and community participation; uphold the highest level of integrity; cultivate two-way communication with denizens; protect the safety and wellbeing of community members; and abide by the laws governing their actions as elected officials.
What do you believe are the three most important opportunities your position can champion during your term, and how do you intend to earn community support?
One of West Richland’s biggest challenges is that we lack daytime employment and the revenue that comes from a thriving small business community. We must also treat established neighborhoods fairly when allocating the costs of infrastructure. I’ll work to build an economically diverse, resilient, and stronger West Richland, where we build up and protect the future of all our neighborhoods. We depend on our city government to be good stewards of our hard-earned money. Unless the budget is managed wisely, we risk West Richland’s independence.
How will you handle conflicts of interest and ethical challenges that may arise while serving as an elected official?
With the guidance of our city’s attorney, we can make sure we are fulfilling our duties and following ethical behavioral practices during the performance of our council’s actions.
A: Citizens should elect me because I will make the best decision I can based on my experience, judgment, and beliefs.
B: Citizens should elect me because I will seek out opinions and perspectives different from my own when formulating a decision.
I always look towards the subject matter experts and use that knowledge to make the best-informed decision on council.
A: The city has a role to play in cost of living and affordable housing.
B: Cost of living and housing affordability should be left solely to the market.
Zoning and infrastructure can impact the housing market in many ways. Planning for stronger and more resilient communities that are economically diverse will benefit the entire city.
A: The City Council should rely on the private sector to create projects that enhance culture.
B: The City Council should help fund major capital projects that enhance the vibrancy of local culture.
In a perfect world the city would have enough money to fund large arts and culture projects, however due to limited funding the decision to fund infrastructure and public safety projects will normally take precedence.
A: We should control and guide suburban sprawl even if doing so affects short-term economic growth.
B: We shouldn’t restrain free market development; it’s critical to our local economy.
Between wear on roads, cost for expansive infrastructure, and emergency service response time for a spread out community, uncontrolled suburban sprawl will cost the city more in the long run.
A: The City Council is doing a good job of being transparent.
B: The City Council should do a much better job of being transparent.
We’ve accomplished many of my goals to improve transparency and accountability: posting council meeting videos online, allowing more public comments during meetings, and sending out surveys for better community input. There is always more than can be done, but the city has made good headway
The City Council has a role to play in leading our region to be more welcoming, inclusive, diverse, and equitable.
City Council actions set the tone for how the city’s policies are enacted and sets the example for how city business should be performed.
