Election 2008
State Senate: Fred Walser vs. Val Stevens

by POLLY KEARY, EDITORr

As the economy begins to drive the presidential election, so to does it appear at the tops of the list of concerns of the two candidates vying to serve the 39th Legislative District in the state senate. Val Stevens, the Republican incumbent from Arlington, gave it as numbers one, two and three on her list, and challenger Fred Walser said that the economy is number one for him as well.

Val Stevens

Speaking by phone from her office last week, Val Stevens said that strengthening the economy is an involved prospect. "That involves a lot of areas," she said. "The number one issues concerning people is their ability to get to and from the market and to jobs. That involves whether we have a decent infrastructure or not."

People are also concerned about taxation, she said. "Property tax keeps rising and people are being taxed without being able to identify a tangible result," she said.

And the state economy needs immediate attention, she went on. "I think our legislature has spent us into a hole," she said. "People have been asking for thing and the government hasn't said, wait a minute, you have to think about the consequences of asking for those things. I think spending is out of control."

In order to address infrastructure problems that continue to work against economic growth in the 39th District, the government needs to look at roads, first, said Stevens.
"I believe we need to put more emphasis on roads and spending needs to be appropriated by the number of people using roads," she said. "Only three percent of people use public transportation and yet we spend a lot more than that on public transit. People like to ride in their own private cars."So roads should be funded to accommodate them, she said.

"Highway 2 needs to be widened to four lanes," she said. "I've been advocating for that since I was elected 15 years ago. And the land for the bypass (around Monroe) is owned by the state. Let's build it."

In order to fund road improvements, Stevens advocates a re-appropriation of certain sales taxes. "I proposed last year that we takes sales tax from items related to autos, like tires care sales, auto repairs, and it should go to where that item will be driven, and that is on our roads," she said.

As far as property tax relief, the state needs to stop taking a percentage of the money raised by and for local governments, she said. "When the state of Washington takes 25% of those taxes for the general funds, that's not reasonable," she said. "I have proposed for many years that the state would not take money from local levies. That money should stay at home."

And legislators should work to reduce the size and scope of government, which wold reduce the deficit and bring spending back under control, she said. "You and I have to balance a budget," she said. "If we are going to spend into the future, the chickens will come home to roost."

Fred Walser

During a pause in the activity at the Sky Valley Food Bank where he volunteers each Friday, Fred Walser sat down to discuss his agenda for state government should he be elected to replace Val Stevens in the state senate.

"Number one is to try to fix our economy through transportation infrastructure improvements," said the former chief of the Sultan Police and cofounder of the U.S. 2 Safety Coalition. "I've been working for 10 years on U.S. 2 safety and because of that and the experience I've gained, I've developed an awareness and appreciation of the needs statewide, not just on Highway 2."

But funding fixes is going to be tough, because a lot of fixes are currently budgeted through sales taxes on gasoline, the use of which has declined during recent price spikes, he said. "There are diminishing returns form the nickel tax and the 9.5-cent tax," he said. "We need to find other ways to fund the infrastructure."And that might include looking to the private sector for funds, he said.

Unlike his opponent, he believes in increasing public transit, and private business could be a part of that, he said. We need to look at transit, maybe commuter rail, and public private partnerships," he said. "And companies have to get employees to work and we're not doing a real good job of that. We need to start working with business and work on van-pools, park and rides, and other transportation options."

But he does believe that, with the help of private entities, entirely new transportation options could be developed. "We need to work with the feds and with private businesses like BNSF Railways and trucking companies," he said.

Also on his lost of top priorities is public safety, he said. "There's only one other former police officer in the state senate this year," he said. "Domestic violence, child abuse, sex predators issues, those are all issues I had a lot of experience with. I can be an asset."

Education rounds out Walser's top three list of priorities. "We have to support teachers better," he said. "We have to attract and retain good teachers." Every dollar invested into helping kids succeed saves the state money in the long run, he said. "When you're doing that, spending money on kids, you're not spending a great deal of money jailing them later on," he said. "You're making them productive citizens instead of inmates."

His wife, Monroe mayor Donnetta Walser, is a retired teacher, and her experiences shaped his views on education greatly, he said.

Most importantly, though, Walser said, is that the citizens of the 39th District have good, accessible representation in the senate. "I feel passionately about why I am running," he said. "It's time for a change. People need to know they've got a senator working for them. My priority is to be visible and accessible in my district."

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