The Reporter will be publishing a newspaper debate during the coming weeks for the twocontested Maple Valley City Council races – positions 3 and 6.

The two candidates for Position 6 are Cathy Hilde and Dana Parnello. The seat opened after Councilwoman Victoria Laise-Jonas resigned when she moved out of the area. Parnello was appointed to the fill the position in August 2014. This election is for the two years remaining on Laise-Jonas’ term.

Question 1

Describe how and why Maple Valley should grow during the next four to 10 years, including commercial, retail and housing growth.Specifically, what council actions and spending of public money will be needed for the type of growth you anticipate and how would it be financed.

Cathy Hilde

Maple Valley has seen tremendous growth since incorporation and growth will continue as mandated by the Growth Management Act.Our city needs growth to financially sustain itself however, our future vision should protect our community values and quality of life. Forthe first time Maple Valley will have a vision element as part of the newly rewritten comp plan which, in my role as a planningcommissioner, I have helped define and I urge the current City Council to adopt the Planning Commission’s recommendation.

The plan lays out a Town Center which includes a blend of much needed multifamily housing and retail. The Town Center would be agathering place with walkable, bike able paths and sidewalks. The housing portion not only meets the requirements of the GMA butprovides types of housing that are lacking for citizens who can’t afford a single family residence. In terms of revenue for the city,multifamily property has the highest value per square foot for property tax purposes. The plan also recognizes the Legacy Site propertyas having its own distinct identity. It defines Legacy as an asset that would allow for the civic goals of the community yet be a catalystfor economic development. As an asset, it has sat far too long without providing a return on taxpayer investment. It is time to revisitpast development plans and explore possibilities that will benefit the community such as a public/private partnership to develop the site.The comp plan also allows for commercial growth and multifamily housing adjacent to the new high school. It plans for businesses thatwould partner with the district to support their goals of “Future Ready” students. At the north end of Maple Valley, the plan includesopportunity for new senior housing. A full service senior housing project not only provides housing options for many of our seniors butwould be an employment center delivering estimated 75-100 new jobs. The potential is there to be a catalyst for reinvestment in existing businesses and increase our day time shopping population in an area anchored by our civic centers of activity.

Dana Parnello

Maple Valley is expected to grow to approximately 26,700 residents over the next 10 years. Serving existing and future residentsrequires improvements to existing facilities and services. To ease the burdens on residential taxpayers (homeowners) and essentialservice-providers (schools, fire, police, human services) our future growth will have a dramatically reduced emphasis on residentialdevelopment. To offset the resulting reduced revenues (from reduced residential permitting and development fees), we will need tocontinue to increase commercial tax revenues with new businesses.

Put simply, we must increase the amount of money spent inside our city. We do that in a couple of ways. First, we help residents remainin town; rather than fight traffic to leave and re-enter every day. Second, for those that remain in town, we give us all more localplaces where we want to spend our money.

The key to success is to bring in more employers that pay wages sufficient to raise a family so that employees can live and work andplay in town. Even a few more employers incrementally tip the scales toward long-term economic health.

The question is, what businesses do we try to attract?

Council will use our 20-year Comprehensive Plan, as required by the Growth Management Act, to “logically organize and prioritize thecommunity’s needs to maintain a healthy, dynamic and balanced community”. That means the city will ensure the culture, policies andzoning to attract businesses that are in keeping with the community. Not all businesses bring in the same amount of taxes. Not allindustries make sense in every community. In the near term, our new Regional Learning Center and high school will be a huge boost.

To ensure we get the most from our locally-collected funds, the city will continue to secure county, state and federal matching grants.Further, we will secure mitigation fees, as we did when we spent $250,000 in legal fees to gain over $17 million in transportationmitigation fees in response to the anticipated Black Diamond growth. This preparation is an investment that pays significant real world rewards (e,g,: Witte Road improvements).

Question 2

Since the Great Recession finding adequate revenue for expected city services is always a challenge.

Describe what services you believe residents expect from the city and the necessary revenue streams to offer those services. Be specific about the revenue sources including increases in taxes and fees on whom or what entity, and the amount of revenue needed to allow the city to function as the residents expect.

Dana Parnello

Among competing priorities, the big three are Safety, Public Works & Parks and Recreation. I cannot be all-inclusive in 350 words.

Maple Valley is recognized as one of the safest cities in the state. Our contract with the King County Sheriff’s Office provides thecommunity the services of our impressive Maple Valley Police Department. Of course, Maple Valley Fire & Life Safety has also becomean essential staple in our community. Both teams bring a proactive approach to their service model, thereby driving down costs throughprevention of issues. These services are largely funded by the general fund (comprised of a variety of taxes and fees including propertyand sales taxes) and by a utility tax (police).

Public works provides some of our most-needed (and costly) services – and they are often also the least recognized. Since our roads aremaintained better than anywhere in the surrounding area, you don’t hear people speak much about roads maintenance issues. OurTransportation Benefit District, however, contributes over $300,000 annually to this cause. Collaborative partnerships with neighboringcities have allowed substantial savings by sharing costs for things such as de-icing, sanding, street sweeping and road resurfacing andrepairs.

Roadway capacity, on the other hand, is a real issue. Our roads have become more congested, and our neighboring cities are expectedto more than double in population, putting more strain on our roads. Our city has a small amount of funds to make some minorchanges, but it’s not enough to solve the problem. We must make our case to the county and state to fully fund these road projects,and get Maple Valley moving again.

Our community wants and needs more activities and facilities for all residents. Today’s offerings have long waiting lists and thecommunity keeps asking for more. The citizens will have a chance on the April 2016 ballot to determine if the expansion of facilities andservices is something we want to afford. Council has directed staff to place a 2016 Parks & Recreation Bond before the voters. Passing this bond would dramatically expand facilities and services in Maple Valley.

Cathy Hilde

Since incorporation Maple Valley has been in the role of building a city, mostly single family residences (SFR’s) which were built toaccommodate families that chose to make Maple Valley their home. Today, due to the scarcity of vacant land, the revenue stream fromSFR construction has been greatly reduced. Even with expansion of the commercial districts, the growth in municipal spending isexceeding the growth in revenue. The question actually becomes how do we continue to provide growing services when ourexpenditures outpace the revenue?

Residents of Maple Valley expect services from their city that will enhance their quality of life, connect them to the community andrepresent a good value for their taxpayer dollar. We expect to travel around town on safe and efficient roads, have well maintainedparks and open spaces for all types of outdoor activities, we also expect safe public areas and low crime neighborhoods. Evaluating theamount of revenue needed to allow the city to function as expected will have to be preceded by getting back to a few basic principles.Such as writing a balanced budget where every dollar spent is justified and having discussions about how to live within our means. TheCity Council can no longer pass deficit budgets year after year using the reserves to pay down the shortfall and expect taxpayers toagree with reduced services or more tax increases.

The second part to the funding equation is revenue. We must diversify and increase the city’s sources of revenue. There needs to be arefocus of our economic development efforts with leadership capable of demonstrating Maple Valley is welcoming and open forbusiness. It will be critical that a refocused Economic Development Committee develops goals and strategies for targeting andattracting the types of new business that our citizens desire. At the same time we must be committed to cooperating with our existing business community, who are major contributors to our community’s economy and tax base, and build a strong partnership with the Chamber who is already involved in supporting the needs of business.