Federal Way City Council and mayoral candidates shared their visions for the future of Federal Way at the Mirror’s annual candidate forum on Oct. 8.

Mayoral candidates this year include incumbent Jim Ferrell and current city council member Susan Honda.

City council candidates include Martin Moore and Nathan Orth for position 2, Melissa Hamilton and Tammy Dziak for position 4, and Les Sessoms and Jack Dovey for position 6.

Mayoral candidates were given three minutes for their opening and closing remarks and two minutes to answer each question. Council candidates were given two minutes for opening and closing remarks and one minute to answer each question.

This year’s forum was held at the Family Life Center in Federal Way and moderated by Mirror Editor Andy Hobbs. A video of the full forum is available on the Federal Way Mirror’s Facebook page.

Questions from the community were collected before the event, then Mirror staff developed questions to represent the top themes and concerns of those submissions.

These themes included public safety and accountability; housing and city growth; jobs and economic development; financial transparency and responsible spending; arts, culture and community identity; public health and homelessness; and food access and essential services.

The forum began with individual questions for the mayoral candidates to give them a chance to define their differences.

Ferrell focused on celebrating the development of Federal Way’s downtown, especially in the context of the incoming light rail, while Honda said her vision is broader and more focused on community voice.

“Too many decisions have been made without the input from people who call this city home,” Honda said.

Both highlighted a commitment to public safety and policing, although some tension arose over a statement by Honda about her voting record in budgeting for police officers.

Ferrell emphasized improvement in crime statistics, including car thefts, and a track record of new businesses coming to Federal Way.

“I’m an expert when it comes to criminal safety issues. I spent 19 years as a criminal prosecutor, and here’s where this pays off after we got the laws in Olympia fixed with regard to pursuits and common sense drug laws. The first year those were fixed, car thefts went down 52%, this year it’s down 56%,” Ferrell said.

Honda shared ideas around adding senior centers and youth programming, and emphasized the importance of community engagement and collaboration with local organizations and businesses.

Council candidates

On most issues, council candidates expressed shared values and differentiated themselves more through unique ideas as well as their experience or endorsements.

On public safety related to the light rail, for example, Hamilton advocated for applying Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) principles, and Dziak supported those ideas.

Dovey suggested an additional transportation system of some kind to shuttle people from the light rail to nearby destinations like the mall to ensure it functions to truly connect people to the city.

When it comes to affordable housing, candidates generally agreed that there needs to be more housing in general in Federal Way, and that the permitting system needs to be improved because the current slow pace impedes development.

Les Sessoms and Jack Dovey at the Federal Way Mirror’s candidate forum on Oct. 8. They are running against each other for Federal Way City Council position 6. Photo by Keelin Everly-Lang / the Mirror

Several candidates also spoke to the importance of middle housing options like duplexes and condos.

Dovey said: “We have to think like a manufacturer and not a house builder,” and shared several ideas, including that “we need to go to the churches that have land that’s not being used, it’s not on the tax rules, and purchase it so we can build affordable housing.”

Hamilton tied together the subjects of affordable housing with job creation and economic development, highlighting public safety as a common thread that can have a positive or negative impact on all of these areas.

Orth pointed out that Federal Way is missing out on revenue from taxes on cannabis sales because the city doesn’t allow it, and that these funds could be used to support building needed housing.

When it comes to homelessness, several candidates discussed the need to address the root causes, including but not limited to substance use, domestic violence, job loss and mental health issues.

Sessoms proposed a regional approach, stating that homelessness is a regional issue. “I would start locally and work my way outwards. We have a wonderful system in place that needs more funding,” Sessoms said, highlighting the community court that offers “compassionate justice providing wraparound services to people impacted by drugs and homelessness” and the efforts of local organizations like the Multi-Service Center (MSC), FUSION and Sound Alliance.”

Economic development also brought out a variety of ideas.

Dziak said she wanted to focus on providing support to small businesses, like offering tax breaks to them rather than to larger corporations, which she said are getting all the breaks and then being able to leave the building empty once the business moves out. She also suggested attracting businesses and customers with engagement through public art and art-based events.

Moore said the city should focus on hiring Federal Way companies and contractors for capital projects to invest in the community, especially because local job skill development programs like apprenticeships through local high schools are building that pool of local resources.

Check out a video of the forum at the Federal Way Mirror’s Facebook page for more comments and statements from the candidates.