At least two City Council incumbents want to stay

By ERICA JAHN

Staff writer

Two Federal Way City Council members have announced they will run to keep their seats in the upcoming council elections.

Councilwoman Mary Gates and Councilmen Mike Park and Dean McColgan are up for re-election this year. Councilman Jack Dovey, who was appointed to the council last January to fill the Position 5 vacancy left by former Mike Hellickson’s resignation, also must campaign this fall if he wants to keep the seat.

Gates and Park have declared they’re running. Dovey was unavailable for comment, and McColgan said he hadn’t decided yet whether to run again.

This year, the odd-numbered seats — one, three, five and seven — are up for re-election.

Council members serve in a non-partisan, at-large capacity for four-year terms. They are considered part-time city employees and receive $750 a month in compensation, with the exception of the council members tapped to be mayor, who receives $900 a month. Council members do not receive benefits.

Gates has served on the council since the city incorporated. She was the first deputy mayor from 1989 to 1991 and mayor from 1994 to 1995.

Currently, she serves on the city’s Finance, Economic Development and Regional Affairs Committee, the Parks, Recreation, Human Services and Public Safety Committee, the City-Chamber Economic Development Committee and the City-School District Liaison committee. She is a former small business owner, public school teacher and college instructor. She also is a member of the Sound Transit board.

Gates said that in the coming years, the city will have to continue to focus on issues surrounding economic development.

“We’re not out of this recession by any means, so we’re going to have to be very careful in terms of budgeting and finance,” she said.

But, she added, the city also will have to help the community pull together to meet the social needs of the residents.

“We spent so much time doing all the fundamentals of creating a city and making sure we’re financially strong and stable, but we really now need to pull the fabric of the community together,” she said. “More than ever, we need to start pulling together for the common good. We’ve laid some basics, but we really need to put some energy into that. Westway is a beginning, but there is so much more that needs to be done.”

She described herself as financially very conservative (“I don’t like to recognize a dollar until it comes in the door”) —but said she supports investment in capital projects, particularly transportation.

Park, who owns Midway Cleaners in Kent, has been a council member since 1995 and served as the state’s first Korean mayor during 2000-01.

He said the next few years will be a critical time for the city, and he wants to participate in the decisions that will guide Federal Way into the future.

“Fiscally, it’s a very important time period,” he said. “I’d like to be part of that.”

Park described himself as a moderate conservative who voted against the utility tax increases. He anticipates focusing on the proposed municipal facility and community center projects during the next few years.

As chairman of the city’s Finance, Economic Development and Regional Affairs Committee, he said he’ll be keeping an eye on the city’s fiscal health as the region rides out the sluggish economy.

“I want to ensure the city’s financial condition is sound,” he said. “We’ve got to prepare to face these tough economic conditions. I believe these conditions may not disappear in a reasonably short period of time. It will maintain for several years.”

Staff writer Erica Jahn: 925-5565, ejahn@fedwaymirror.com

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