By Kevin Hanson, The Courier-Herald

Enumclaw-area voters will go to the polls Nov. 4 and help decide who represents District 9 on the Metropolitan King County Council, incumbent Steve Hammond or challenger Barbara Heavey.

Hammond has been on the job about four months, chosen by the rest of the council to fill the vacancy created by the unexpected death of longtime councilman Kent Pullen. Formerly an Enumclaw minister, he took a formal leave from those duties when assuming the council post.

Heavey, an attorney from Kent, is a King County employee, working in the Department of Development and Environmental Services.

Hammond said he's settling into his King County post, but has been warned it takes about a year to really get accustomed to the workings of county government. He's still looking forward to the day when he's firmly in front of the learning curve, he said.

One of his biggest challenges - and one that will face every District 9 councilman - is representing rural interests in a county with a dominant city. "King County is controlled by those who have urban interests," he said, explaining he often finds himself having to explain country life to those who have never lived outside the city.

He understands why rural folks feel disenfranchised. "The county feels it needs to be a regional government," he said, acknowledging that rural residents don't particularly want county government looking over their shoulders. He aims to represent those who choose to live in the rural parts of the county, those who are "more self-sustaining," he said.

One of the ongoing issues close to Hammond's heart is the county's move to protect the rural environment by imposing land-use rules on property owners. "Encroachment without compensation is an unconstitutional taking," he said. "If government takes land for the public good, then government has to pay for it." Hammond's stance on such matters has made him friends in the rural parts of the county.

He also advocates some sort of restriction on property taxes, particularly for those of retirement age. It's not right, he said, when senior citizens are forced to sell homes they own outright, simply because they cannot handle the tax burden.

King County's budget situation is bad and not about to improve, Hammond said, noting that county costs are climbing at least 5 percent annually while revenues are climbing by 2 percent or less. He knows the county needs to come up with more money, but maintains, "I'll continue to have a 'no more tax burden' approach."

Instead, he favors loosening certain regulations to make the county a bit more business-friendly. When government loosens up, business expands and the economy grows, he said.

Heavey claims the biggest thing separating her from her opponent is "experience in government."

Aside from her current post with King County, she has represented south King County on the Metro Citizens Transit Advisory Committee, served on the board of the South King County Multi-Service Center (providing emergency services and job training), and contributing free legal advice as a volunteer attorney with the South King County Legal Clinic.

She, too, takes the county to task for some of its environmental regulations, and does so from the standpoint of a rural resident with a salmon-spawning stream cutting through her property. She believes the county is too rigid in its approach, and would prefer to see property addressed on a case-by-case basis.

She admits to some irony in the fact she works for the county department charged with developing rural land-use regulations. But, Heavey emphasizes, she's not in charge of setting the direction the department takes.

Heavey has made controlling urban sprawl a campaign issue, and claims recent county leadership has dropped the ball when it comes to effective planning. There's a problem with allowing residential subdivisions to be built independent of necessary services, with winding roads that prohibit easy access. The result, she said, is a community full of residents who need to drive for their every need.

When addressing the state of the county budget, Heavey states a belief the problem has existed for years but was "masked by a healthy economy." Limitations on property taxes and auto license fees damaged government's ability to collect revenues, she said.

The short-term solution, she said, is to watch spending. "There are still efficiencies to be made," she said, "but we are reaching the point where services are going to suffer."

She shares a concern that District 9 might not be adequately represented, as 70 percent of the district's land is rural, while only 20 percent of its citizens live on rural property. She would be a good choice for the district, she said, "because I know what works and what doesn't work in county government."

Kevin Hanson can be reached at khanson@courierherald.com