Candidate Ethan Benson, running for Snoqualmie City Council Position #1, submitted answers to five questions we asked.
After the Q&A, you will find a short bio for each candidate and a link to their websites
The summer primary was held on August 5th. Ballots were mailed out on October 16th, and November 4th will be the general election.
1. How can the city improve community engagement so that residents feel their input has a meaningful impact on council decisions?
The value of community engagement cannot be overstated. The role of a council member is to represent every one of the residents in the community, and the only way that can be done is with effective communication. The most significant moments for me in my time on the council have been when community members reached out to me with a strong opinion, a great observation, or a vehement complaint, and that has changed the course of the council’s decision.
The most recent example of this was during the utility rate study the council underwent to determine what our new utility rates would be. There are some big projects underway in Public Works, especially in water treatment, that cost millions of dollars. There is no way around these projects, and by law they must be funded through utility rates, so we knew that rates were going to have to go up significantly. Once we had settled on the rates, two community members reached out to me. One by email, and one with a phone call. They both told me that the rates we were considering passing the next Monday would absolutely crush them, and we needed to figure out a way to do it differently. At that next Monday meeting, I shared the feedback I’d heard from community members with the council, and I suggested we forgo passing the rates as planned, and instead have the finance department figure out how we could leverage our utility bonding capacity to alleviate the rate increase. And that is what the council chose to do. There was still a significant rate increase, but it wasn’t nearly what it would have been.
We need more of this as a city. We need a culture of community involvement. The City Council looks to you for guidance, and we respect your voice. We just need to figure out how to hear it more. I think too much of our city business is conducted in closed sessions. We need more town halls and open community input in big decisions.
Much of this comes down to administrative style, and I want to say that I think Mayor Ross has been a dedicated public servant to the residents of Snoqualmie, giving years of her life to the betterment of our city, but I do not think community engagement is her strong suit. At times it seems that she has had a vision for Snoqualmie, and she has attempted to craft the community’s opportunity to respond so that her vision could be realized. It’s the difference between asking a survey question like, ‘Do you like pools, and would you like one in Snoqualmie?’ versus asking, ‘To address the significant need for a pool in the Snoqualmie Valley, how might we strategize getting the best pool for as many people as possible?’ I think the latter question is more the style of Jim Mayhew, and I believe that having him as mayor would improve community engagement immediately.
But much of this is on you as well. You need to get involved. I am excited by the relaunch of the Citizen’s Academy. You should sign up for that. You should come to events that are designed to collect your thoughts, and you should speak up when you have an opinion. I promise you will encounter a City Council that is very interested in your take on things.
2. Previous surveys showed residents opposed building a swimming pool, yet the Council later approved one without conducting another survey. How do you explain that decision-making process?
I don’t agree with the premise of this question. There have been a bunch of surveys taken around the building of a pool in Snoqualmie, and the responses have ranged from “I can’t believe we didn’t have this 10 years ago.” to, “No pool ever! And let’s ban bird baths and large puddles too!”
In my time on council, I have seen surveys that show a solid majority of Snoqualmians want a pool and feel they need a pool. I have also heard a great many residents say that the proposed project is fundamentally flawed for any of a half-dozen reasons.
The City Council did not approve a pool. We approved the planning of a pool project that would be contingent on procuring sufficient funds to build it. The City was unable to secure those funds. The polls that really convince me are the ones where people commit money, or don’t. In the past two decades, Snoqualmie voters have chosen three times to defeat bond measures to fund a pool project.
This decision-making process has provided me with the opportunity to learn several important things about Snoqualmie residents’ opinions regarding a pool:
· We need a pool.
· The proposed project is too small and too expensive.
· We need a bigger, better, cheaper pool project.
I don’t know how to build a bigger, better, cheaper pool without a whole lot of help. I am convinced that if we are to build a pool at all, we must do it in partnership with our Valley neighbors.
3. Spring Plaza remains vacant despite its original intent as a coffee shop and event space to generate tax revenue. Is it possible to address this underutilized property?
Spring Plaza was built with such promise. I remember how excited I was to hear that there would be a coffee shop in there. Years later, it lies empty. It stands as a monument to broken promises made to the City and its residents.
Unfortunately, Spring Plaza is not our only high-profile vacant property in Snoqualmie. There are others that stand empty, providing nothing but a rolling, escalating opportunity cost to our City. The most actionable idea I have heard to deal with this issue is the proposition of a vacancy tax ordinance, which might encourage the property owners to put their property to work. I am not convinced that this is the right way to deal with the issue, but I would be very interested to hear a spirited debate for and against the idea.
4. The Housing Accountability Act (SB 5148) introduces the “builder’s remedy,” allowing developers to bypass local planning if housing targets aren’t met. What challenges and opportunities does this present for Snoqualmie, particularly in terms of affordable housing?
As I read it, SB 5148 imagines a world where legions of builders are clamoring to develop large affordable housing developments on Snoqualmie’s vast open buildable spaces, while the Snoqualmie city government stands in their way, preferring only to allow new mansion building, and we want to outlaw rock music and public dancing too.
This, of course, is a fairy tale. If the land existed, and if the developers were willing to build affordable housing, the city would be overjoyed to work with them. As it is, we scour the maps to look for opportunities for infill development throughout the city. I have personally transformed my detached garage into an ADU so that my two older kids could have affordable housing in Snoqualmie. (Affordable for them, anyway.) In addition to that, we’ve built a modest apartment in our home for my father-in-law, and for the last eight years we’ve rented out a room to a young boarder. There is an enormous need here for housing people can afford. I can attest to that.
To encourage the building of affordable housing, the city is legally required to make sure projects will be lucrative to the developer. We can only do that if the State provides us with tools to that end. And, of course, all of that is moot if we cannot find available land that is buildable.
The city is working constantly to find more opportunities for affordable housing, but if we are going to be successful, we will need more than mandates from the State. We will need real resources.
5. What role should the city play in encouraging more retail on the Ridge—businesses that drive sales tax revenue—while balancing the demand for health services?
This is a difficult question. Thriving retail creates foot traffic, and good retail begets more good retail. It is good to encourage zones like our Historic Downtown District, and Center Street up on the Ridge to be attractive retail spaces. Recently, the City Council passed an ordinance to increase the percentage of storefronts in these spaces that are expected to be retail to 90 percent. A marked increase. I understand the motivation for this, but I am also concerned by this action. Property owners have rights, and when local government writes rules that force property owners to leave properties vacant rather than rent them to willing tenants, my ears get itchy. Let me pose a question to you. How much should a property owner have to reduce the rent he asks so that he gets a tenant you want him to have? I don’t have the answer to that question, but it’s the question nagging at me.
I am excited by proposed and ongoing projects like the Snoqualmie River Trail and revitalizing Falls Avenue in our Historic Downtown District to be a bustling retail zone. The proposal of a model train museum downtown is also very exciting. All of these projects will be enormously valuable to our small businesses downtown.
Candidate Bio with linked Website
My family moved to Snoqualmie in 2011 and fell in love with the city. Our three children were still young at the time, with one in middle school, one in elementary school, and our youngest still a baby. We immediately loved the natural beauty of the area, and after having grown up in the Los Angeles area, my wife, Tricia and I found the experience of living in a small town absolutely restorative. We knew we had found our forever home. We bought a house on the Ridge, and made friendships throughout our neighborhood, and then in 2021, we bought a house downtown in the Greek Streets. We have loved every part of Snoqualmie.
Learn more at: Re-elect Ethan Benson for Snoqualmie City Council
