Our choices for Gig Harbor City Council and Peninsula School Board
Voters on the west side of the Narrows bridges have some spirited races on their Nov. 3 ballots for Gig Harbor City Council and Peninsula School Board.
The school district’s boundaries encompass the City of Gig Harbor as well as parts of unincorporated Pierce County, including the Key Peninsula and Fox Island. School board races are by geographical district, while City Council members are elected at-large.
A big issue in the Peninsula School District has been the failure to pass a much-needed capital bond measure to address the growing population’s need for new and bigger school facilities. Given the hard feelings over the defeats, it comes as no surprise that two of three incumbents are being challenged and an open seat was hotly contested in the primary. Bringing the community together to pass a bond and hiring a new superintendent will be at the top of the board’s agenda.
? District 1 (lower and central Key Peninsula): Incumbent and board president Matthew Wilkinson, a computer network administrator at the Bangor naval base, faces a strong opponent in his bid for a third term. In the three-way primary, he came in a close second to Marcia E. Harris.
These are both strong candidates, and voters can’t go wrong with either. But we favor Harris, who has a wealth of experience as a retired school administrator. In fact, she served 11 years as Peninsula’s deputy superintendent and has a reputation for fiscal expertise. The board could use that.
? District 3 (central, east and part of north Gig Harbor): Incumbent Rand Wilhelmsen is seeking his second full term on the board, and we think voters should give it to him. The bank executive and former teacher has served on the district’s audit committee and is knowledgeable about such school policy issues as the Common Core standards.
Opponent Geralyn McLendon, a nurse consultant for the state, is a promising candidate. But we’ll stick with the more experienced incumbent.
? District 4 (west side of Gig Harbor, Fox Island): Leslie Harbaugh, a longtime volunteer in the district, came in first in a hard-fought three-way primary for this open seat. Also making it through was Garth Jackson, an engineer who has had a second career as a math and science teacher for 12 years.
We liked both candidates in the primary, but endorsed Harbaugh based on her depth of involvement in the district, which includes co-chairing the most recent bond proposal. She’s been in the trenches for a long time; she’s earned a chance to help call the shots.
The Gig Harbor City Council has had to make some tough decisions regarding growth in recent years, and anything that changes the status quo is likely to ruffle feathers. We favor the two incumbents seeking re-election, even though they were often on opposite sides of issues, mostly because their opponents can’t match their record of service to the city.
? Position 5: Ken Malich is the institutional memory of the council, having grown up in Gig Harbor in a family that’s lived in the area for 110 years. He served a council term in the 1970s, then didn’t run again until 2007. If elected Nov. 3, it will be for his fourth term. He is a retired mechanical engineer with Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.
Malich has a deep love for how Gig Harbor used to be, but recognizes that times are changing and the city needs to absorb more population under the Growth Management Act. There’s value in having someone on the council who is so aware of where the city has come from as it steps into the future.
He has a very credible opponent in Al Abbott, co-owner and creative director of CarrotStick Marketing. Abbott, who has been active in many civic and business groups, would be a strong voice for small business and entrepreneurs in Gig Harbor should he be elected.
? Position 6: We think businessman Michael Perrow, a former Parks Commission member, is the clear choice in this race. Seeking his second term on the council, Perrow is much more knowledgeable about the issues surrounding growth than his opponent, activist Jeni Woock.
There’s a reason Perrow has been endorsed by the city’s former mayors – Jake Bujacich, Don McCarty, Gretchen Wilbert and Chuck Hunter – and current mayor Jill Guernsey as well as a bipartisan list that includes Republican Terry Lee and Democrats Derek Young and Derek Kilmer. He’s the better candidate.