By Brian Beckley

The Courier-Herald

Growth and labor relations dominated a gathering of the five Bonney Lake mayoral candidates Thursday at the Mountain View Middle School commons.

More than 80 people attended the event, sponsored by the Bonney Lake Police Guild and the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees local 120, moderated by Judge Jim Helbling.

Each candidate was given a two-minute opening statement and then responded to four questions, two from Pierce County Sheriff's deputy and Sumner School Board member Sherm Voiles and two from Bonney Lake Chamber of Commerce board member Katrina Minton.

Mayor Bob Young stressed his experience and touted successes from his eight years in the mayor's seat and said he would provide a "steady hand" in dealing with issues in the future.

"We have a good future ahead of us," Young said in his opening statement. "I want to be a part of that."

Councilman Neil Johnson talked about his four years on the City Council and said he has experience managing 10 employees and a $20 million budget at work. Johnson also stressed his coaching experience and said he would work to get the city functioning as a team.

"This has been the hardest thing for me to sit an watch as the city destroys itself from the inside," he said.

Councilman Jim Rackley said in his opening that he wanted to refocus the city's efforts from businesses back to the community.

"We don't want to become a destination shopping city for the Plateau. We want a nice place to live," he said.

Planning Commissioner and city activist Quinn Dahlstrom said she was running for office to try and slow the rate of growth in the city. In her opening remarks, Dahlstrom stressed her commitment to property rights. Dahlstrom also blamed the current administration and council for the increase in traffic and said not enough was being done to mitigate it, especially in the area near South Prairie Road and state Route 410.

"We have congestion that was brought on by the council and the mayor," she said.

Dahlstrom also said she would work to bring a hospital to the city.

Activist Dan Decker said as mayor he would try to slow the rate of the growth in the city and he would like to see Bonney Lake become more metropolitan, growing "upward" instead of "sprawling outward."

"Tomorrow is what our city is about," Decker said.

The issue of the city's rapid growth drew considerable discussion Thursday night.

All candidates said they were concerned about the rate at which Bonney Lake was growing, with many focusing on traffic issues in and around the city.

Young said the city will not continue to grow at its current rate as buildable lands are running out within city limits, though he did expect Bonney Lake to annex more land. Young also said he was working to try and develop other roads off the Plateau to relieve some of the congestion from SR410.

"We are working to handle our traffic problems in Bonney Lake," Young said.

Johnson said growth can be a good thing, but did not want the city to grow beyond its current boundaries until further infrastructure is in place.

"We're going to have enough growth within our city," he said.

Johnson also said he wanted higher density housing along SR410 to allow single-family home neighborhoods to keep their current feel and character, and he reiterated his commitment to the city's downtown plans.

"Looking to the future, we need to create a downtown," he said.

Rackley said the city's growth was "almost out of our hands" due to the annexation of areas already platted on the county.

"Growth for growth's sake is definitely not a good thing," he said.

Dahlstrom said the city was growing too fast and worried about the ability to handle services such as policing.

"The government is not keeping up with growth," she said.

Decker reiterated his belief that the rate of growth within Bonney Lake was too high and said city streets were "eroding" under the strain.

"The major thing we have to look at in the city … is the roads," he said.

There was also discussion of the candidates' experiences with labor unions and questions about what avenues would be available for city employees to voice their concerns, which is of particular importance to many of the city employees and union members in attendance.

The current administration has come under fire for the high rate of turnover within the city.

Young said his office was always open to city employees and he enjoyed talking to staff about their concerns.

"It's always good to listen," he said. "You're the working force of the community."

Johnson said his father was a Teamster and he has experience working with the union at his office.

"The biggest asset we have are the people of Bonney Lake and the employees of Bonney Lake," he said. "We've lost too many good employees."

Johnson also stressed his coaching background and said as mayor he would put together a good team, meeting quarterly with his department heads.

"The one thing a manager can do for their employees is make them successful," he said, adding "the greatest ideas come from employees."

Decker and Dahlstrom were more pointed in their statements, with both taking aim at the current administration's handling of the unions.

"We've lost so many wonderful employees," Dahlstrom said, adding that workers need to know their jobs are safe and won't be thrown out "willy-nilly."

Decker said the way management and the union have been "at each other's throat" is "very harmful" to the city and promised to put an end to the "micro-management within the city."

"Management and labor must work together," he said.

The candidates also fielded questions from the audience ranging from concerns about the Fennel Creek corridor, to the amount of time each candidate could devote to the job, to plans for interviewing and hiring a new police chief.

Following the forum, Police Guild President Kyle Torgerson and union chair Joe Lovett each said the event went well, though neither sponsoring group planned to endorse a candidate.

"We're interested in the next mayor and hopefully the public is too," Torgerson said.

The Bonney Lake Courier Herald will sponsor a debate at 7 p.m. Sept. 7 at Bonney Lake High School.

Brian Beckley can be reached at bbeckley@courierherald.com.