SMOKEY POINT — Dueling talking points between the candidates for U.S. and state representative seats, as well as the county executive and sheriff’s offices, marked the Arlington-Smokey Point Chamber of Commerce’s Oct. 14 candidate forum.
While Democratic U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen touted the federal dollars he’s brought home for local transportation projects, his Republican challenger, B.J. Guillot, expressed concerns with the national debt and NSA surveillance of citizens. Both agreed on the need to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank, to provide greater stability for businesses.
“I’ve been able to reach across the aisle and do work with a local focus for fourteen years,” said Larsen, who’s pushed for stronger safety measures for oil trains.
“I believe in the balanced budget amendment, which my opponent has voted against,” said Guillot, who suggested an oil pipeline instead of trains. “I also think the Affordable Care Act has hurt small businesses.”
Republican state Rep. Elizabeth Scott, a self-described fourth-generation farm girl, and her Democratic challenger, Charles Jensen, a teacher from Sedro-Woolley, expressed concerns with issues that hit close to home. Scott championed property rights and fewer government regulations, while Jensen noted the need to meet the state’s Constitutional obligations to students. Their exchanges focused on House Bill 1108, which Scott opposed and Jensen supported.
“It would have made spousal rape a felony,” said Jensen, who also slammed Scott for not supporting an increase in the minimum wage. “You can’t say no to everything.”
“Spousal rape has been illegal in this state for over thirty years,” said Scott, who likewise condemned a proposed carbon fuel tax. “People won’t be able to afford their daily commutes.”
Democratic Snohomish County Executive John Lovick asserted that the county is on the right track to achieving his vision of “good schools, good roads and good jobs,” as he cited the response to the March 22 Oso slide as evidence that government is working.
By contrast, his Republican challenger, Carolyn Eslick, the mayor of Sultan, pointed to her business experience and repeatedly mentioned “fiscal responsibility” as a quality that county leadership lacks.
“We shouldn’t be increasing our property taxes to pay the county cabinet more than the governor,” Eslick said.
“Our county is doing well, with a low unemployment rate,” Lovick said. “Our real estate industry is red-hot, and that’s because people want to know what a community’s schools are like before they move there.”
County Sheriff Ty Trenary, who’s served 25 years in law enforcement, argued that conditions in the county jail are improving, while his challenger in the non-partisan race, 21-year Navy veteran Jim Upton, echoed Eslick’s insistence that local law enforcement and the administration of the jail are headed in the wrong direction. While Trenary advocated for community-based policing and “not letting the jail serve as the largest mental health hospital in the county,” Upton criticized the change in educational requirements for command staff.
“I have experience in almost every rank and role in the agency,” said Trenary, who insisted that the educational requirement hadn’t been eliminated, but was no longer funded by taxpayers. “This year, we were under budget for the first time in a long time.”
Upton said: “His years in the sheriff’s office are commendable, and he’s got good men running the jail, but they’ve been set up to fail. Knowledge is power. We need to go in a different direction.”
