Candidates for County, State, and Federal Office Answer KP Questions

Nine candidates in the November election appeared before a standing-room-only crowd of 80 or more in the Whitmore Room at the KP Civic Center Oct. 5 to describe their qualifications and answer questions.

In attendance were:

Brenda Lykins (D) and Mike Solan (R) competing for the District 7 seat on the Pierce County Council; David Olson (R) and Rep. Adison Richards (D) for the 26th Legislative District State House Position 1; Katy Cornell (R) and Renee Hernandez Greenfield (D) for the 26th LD State House Position 2; Sen. Deb Krishnadasan (D) and Gary Parker (R) for the 26th LD State Senate; and Teresa Fox (R) for the 6th Congressional District U.S. House. The incumbent U.S. Rep. Emily Randall (D) was absent.

As in past years, each candidate gave a two-minute opening statement and a two-minute closing statement, and had two minutes to answer each question. A two-hour time limit allowed for just four questions previously submitted by residents, each chosen so all candidates could answer.

The event was sponsored by the KP Community Council, KP Business Association, KP Civic Center, The Mustard Seed Project, and KP News. The moderator was KP News Executive Editor Lisa Bryan.

What follows are highlights from some of the candidates’ answers in the order they were given. Not all answers are printed here due to space limitations. The forum was videotaped and can be viewed in its entirety on The Mustard Seed Project YouTube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G99kBrbVsnM

1. What are your budget priorities? What revenue streams will you keep or reform? What expenses will you eliminate?

Cornell: Policies that are failing hurt people, but they also cost us money. … We need to address the root issues effectively so we can help people and save tax dollars at the same time.

Hernandez Greenfield: I always start with child care and education because child care is workforce infrastructure. … Transportation is another need. If we’re stuck in traffic and I can’t pick up my child by 5 because of our bridges, roads, or ferries, those are costs.

Krishnadasan: When COVID hit, Washington state had a ton of federal money come in to help us get through it. We got through COVID, but the programs stayed, and we continue to want to offer them. … When we talk about expenses to cut, that would be the first place I would look. In terms of revenue, we need to grow our tax base.

Parker: There’s a purpose for government: providing programs to help offset things going on in our society. What I don’t see in Olympia is people going back and asking, “Does this program actually do what it was intended to do?”

Solan: My platform is public safety, fiscal integrity, and infrastructure. … Why does the (Pierce County) Sheriff’s Office still have the fewest deputies per capita, not just in Washington state but in the nation? … I would require department heads to cut three to five programs that do not work, keep the ones we are mandated to fund, and go from there.

Lykins: I would love to see us recruit, fully staff our Sheriff’s Department, and grow it. The public safety sales tax was passed by the (Pierce County) council with bipartisan support. It gives the county access to grant funding because the state will not give that funding unless jurisdictions first pass their own public safety sales tax.

Richards: When I got into office, I immediately started talking about refocusing our priorities on our core values of education, health care, and safety. … I voted against revenue when it was not strategically directed at those priorities. … Another thing I’m working hard on is how much costs are going up across government: energy, insurance, paid family and medical (leave), and other things driving costs across our system.

Olson: The (state) budget has more than doubled in 13 years. … We need a thorough review of our spending. Is there redundancy? … We can’t tax our way out of this. We are losing big businesses from the state. B&O taxes and gas taxes are putting a strain on small businesses.

Fox: There is so much waste in the federal budget. We need to get our coastal industries back: timber, maritime, recreational fishing and hunting, and hospitality and tourism associated with parks and national forests. Public safety and economic issues are priorities.

2. The Key Peninsula and other rural areas have unique needs. How will you make sure rural communities receive their fair share of county resources?

Fox: At the federal level, we need to get more money directly to law enforcement. One thing hampering that is state sanctuary policies. … We need to get the Shutdown Sanctuary Policies Act (H.R. 7640) passed so we can hold state and local officials, the governor, and municipalities accountable for failures causing long (emergency response) times and our illegal immigrant problem. We have a serious crisis in our region, deeper than anybody knows. There’s human trafficking and drug trafficking, particularly in Clallam County. Drugs are pouring across the border, and there’s human slavery up there. We have homelessness everywhere.

Solan: For Key Peninsula infrastructure, we have to advocate and partner with the Washington State Department of Transportation, especially on Highway 302. … A few weeks ago, I rode the free shuttle (from KP to Gig Harbor). Did you know there are only six people on average during the 12 hours the shuttle operates? Is that a good allocation of your $600,000 for a two-year pilot project? I’m not sure.

Lykins: We need to look at all our resources. Are there federal grants? State grants? Can we use our money? (When I served) on the Gig Harbor City Council, we had people who needed help and vulnerable populations. We had incredible nonprofits, churches, and people ready to lift them. … We raised zero taxes to make that happen.

3. How do you work with your opposition to reach a common goal? Are there political red lines you won’t cross?

Hernandez Greenfield: To work across ideologies and concerns, you stay curious. … When you stay curious, you can see different sides and come back to something you agree on. That’s my experience and the perspective I lead with.

Cornell: We need to learn to respect one another again. That’s something I want to bring to this position. … You find common ground, listen, talk, and work together on what you agree on. … Like my opponent said, you walk in someone’s shoes and learn to do that.

Parker: People are people once you drop the titles they carry. You have to get to a decision. That’s one reason I run: for greater balance. The more we get the opposing voice in there, the more we can deliver.

Krishnadasan: I’ll continue doing what I’ve done for the last two years. I’ve become known as someone who works across the aisle, listens to the other side, and looks at good policy and what works rather than Democratic or Republican. My seven bills are all bipartisan.

Lykins: With a lifetime in health care, I bring therapeutic listening skills. When I see a patient, I have to listen and know where they’re coming from. They may not agree with the treatment I recommend to keep them healthy. I have to listen without judgment and ask, “How can we make this work for you?”

Solan: The common goal is nonpartisan. … If one party has been making decisions for a long time, government is unbalanced, and the electorate feels disenfranchised. My red line is never to lie to you. I’ll be the most authentic person I can be.

Fox: I want to work for the middle 50 of us, finding common ground and building consensus on items we agree on. When I go to D.C., I’m going to knock on every one of the 415 congresspersons’ doors, find the people there, and make the case for our district on whatever the topic is.

4. What is your position on the millionaires’ tax?

Krishnadasan: I voted no. Tax reform is not just more revenue; it is relief for those struggling most. This bill did not have enough of that for me.

Parker: It’s a money grab. … It goes against the will of the people. When the Legislature tried to put in provisions saying it would never drop below $1 million to protect you and me, that was rejected. Why? Because it’s a state income tax, not a tax on millionaires.

Cornell: On this bill, I’m a no — not because we don’t need tax reform, but because we have to look at it as a whole. … It also taxes business revenue rather than profits, which is dangerous for small businesses operating on very small margins. It included pensions as taxable income.

Hernandez Greenfield: For me, I’m a yes. I’ll explain why. Working and low-income families need relief, and this is a beginning. … I also don’t want that (threshold) to come down. As a working middle-class person running for this seat, that’s what I would fight against.

Richards: I voted no. … I voted for amendments that would have cut sales taxes nearly a point, ensured half the revenue went to tax relief and the other half to tangible priorities like education and health care, and kept the limit at $1 million. That failed. We need tax reform and a less regressive system.

Olson: I think we should start with a moratorium on taxes. … I believe in reform, but we need to know where the spending goes. … The (Peninsula) school district passed bonds to build schools, but citizens voted for them. If we’re going to have a tax, citizens of the state should vote for it.

Fox: It’s an illegal tax. Our governor should not have signed the bill. He violated his oath of office. … Democratic state legislators have become used to feeding at the trough of public revenue. We need to stop that, cut waste from the budget, and start acting like responsible adults. We also need to hold our governor and elected officials acting like tyrants accountable.

Solan: This is an income tax going after everybody in this room. … I’m a union guy. My first vote was for Bill Clinton. My parents are Democrats. As I’ve grown into adulthood and my profession, I’ve seen policies, particularly taxes, affect the most vulnerable. I see it firsthand working the streets (as a police officer). The establishment that’s been in power a long time is failing us.

Lykins: I believe our system is regressive. We need responsible spending on essential projects like public safety and roads, especially projects already underway, and to find federal and state dollars that don’t add costs for people here.

View the forum in its entirety on The Mustard Seed Project YouTube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G99kBrbVsnM