Tacoma City Council candidates' competition slim?

Three Tacoma City Council incumbents vying to retain seats in next month’s general election are facing opponents who have done little or no campaigning.

Challengers to Lauren Walker, David Boe and Ryan Mello – who respectively hold the council’s District 3, 7 and 8 seats – either have been inactive, incapacitated or both.

Boe’s challenger, newcomer Mike Hardy, has rarely appeared for candidates’ forums and said he intentionally has avoided raising money or seeking endorsements.

Perennial candidate Will Baker has not raised or spent a dime and hasn’t responded to requests for interviews.

Walker’s challenger – Robert Hill – faces myriad criminal charges in city and county courts and has spent the past several weeks in jail pending a mental evaluation.

Come Election Day on Nov. 8, winners of the part-time council positions will, among other things, be tasked with improving economic development, dealing with a strained city budget and working with a new city manager to be hired early next year. The job pays $39,083 per year.

DISTRICT 3

In the race for the District 3 seat representing Central Tacoma, Walker is seeking her second term against Hill, a former candidate for sheriff making his first bid for council.

Walker, an executive director of the nonprofit Fair Housing Center of Washington, said she views her council role as “a representative for the under-served” who brings “kindness in city policies.”

“Tacoma is about its people – not just about cars on the road,” she said. “So, finding a way to bring people together who care about each other in an urban context is what I like to promote.”

Walker, who easily won election in 2007, cites as achievements establishing a diverse task force of stakeholders to help set new affordable housing guidelines for the city.

She also lobbied Safeway to invest $2 million in upgrades to its Hilltop store and has prioritized securing $3 million for re-opening the neighborhood’s People’s Pool, she said.

Walker lists job creation and economic development as top priorities, supporting an expansion of Tacoma’s LINK street car system from downtown to the so-called “Medical Mile” along Martin Luther King Jr. Way as one way to spur economic growth.

Walker, 53, a Hilltop resident since 1990, is a mother of two college-age sons and recently lost her husband to cancer. After his death, she supported reforms to the state’s medical marijuana law “to ensure people who truly need it have access.”

Hill, 41, is an oddball activist with a penchant for wearing costumes and promoting female masturbation.

He’s also prone to legal problems, garnering at least four arrests since late August. Pending charges against Hill include assaulting two people with pepper spray, possessing an illegal stun-gun and intimidating a judge.

Hill, who roundly maintains his innocence, said in a September interview he’s a better candidate than Walker because she’s inaccessible to constituents.

“I’ve made multiple requests to her, and she’s never replied,” Hill said. “That kind of person doesn’t need to be in office.”

Hill, who lists his occupation as “computer technician and fraud investigator” in the Pierce County Voters’ Pamphlet, said he supports mandatory furloughs for city employees as a way to ease city budget woes.

He once held a precinct committee officer’s position for the Pierce County Democrats and ran second among three candidates for sheriff in 2008.

Hill has been involuntarily committed at least twice and is being held without bail at the Pierce County Jail awaiting a court-ordered mental health evaluation.

In a letter from jail earlier this month, Hill claimed the court order was politically motivated to sabotage his campaign.

DISTRICT 7

In the race for the at-large District 7 seat, Boe faces Hardy in a battle pitting an incumbent professional against a blue-collar newcomer.

Boe, 50, is the married father of one college freshman and guardian of another. An architect, he has run his own downtown architecture firm since 1996. His professional background provides expertise sorely needed on the council, he said.

“My land use expertise is something I use every day,” he said. “It’s a unique perspective that I bring.”

Boe’s past experience includes volunteer stints on the city’s planning and arts commissions. He counts among his top accomplishments helping to draft a compromise for a controversial historic district proposal for the Wedge neighborhood and supporting a measure to raise the city’s business and occupation tax threshold to exempt some small businesses.

Boe has gained a reputation on council as a detail wonk who’s unafraid to question city projects.

A proponent of high density, Boe said Tacoma needs to further define its future growth by emphasizing smart zoning and updating its land use rules.

“When I’m making decisions, I’m always trying to look through that lens – how’s this going to increase density?”

Shortly after his 2010 appointment, Boe initially failed to disclose his pre-council ties to a building firm’s unsuccessful bid for the Cheney Stadium renovation contract. Boe has blamed the failure to disclose on a newbie politician’s ignorance.

The matter hasn’t hurt his support. Boe’s campaign has raised more than $24,500 and garnered a range of endorsements, including nods from the Black Collective and the Master Builders Association.

By contrast, Hardy said he has intentionally avoided seeking donations or endorsements.

“I don’t want to be indebted to anyone or even have the appearance that I’m in someone’s pocket,” he said.

Hardy, 56, an electrician who lives in the South End and is the married father of a 12-year-old girl, said he’s running to give more representation for Tacoma’s working class.

“The working people in this town want somebody on this council who knows where they’re coming from and can feel their opinions,” he said.

As a two-time elected commander of Tacoma’s American Veterans Post 1, Hardy said he has the administrative experience and personal skills needed for the job.

Citing job creation as his top priority, Hardy contends city officials and economic leaders have failed to effectively market and promote Tacoma to business and industry.

Hardy also believes the council is “focused too much on downtown” and believes the city’s West and North Ends are over-represented.

Hardy lists improving streets and reducing crime among his key issues. He supported former City Manager Eric Anderson’s efforts to reduce crime through the city’s Safe & Clean initiatives, and believes a study to see if the Tacoma Dome can support professional sports is misguided.

DISTRICT 8

In the race for the at-large District 8, incumbent Mello faces Baker, a perennial filer for elected office who rarely campaigns.

Mello, 32, lives in Central Tacoma with his partner and works as Pierce County director of the Cascade Land Conservancy, a nonprofit that promotes working forests and open space.

Mello’s experience includes serving as an assistant to state Rep. Hans Dunshee and winning election to the Metro Parks Board in 2005.

Since his 2010 council appointment, Mello has been a voice for environmental and quality-of-life issues, including endorsing “walkability” initiatives to expand city hiking trails and transit systems.

He favors expanding Tacoma’s LINK to the “Medical Mile” as a way to foster urban density and build a specialized economy.

Mello, who led a recent council measure to impose a citywide moratorium on big box stores amid Walmart’s plans for a new store, describes himself as “pro-business.”

“It is not a net producer of jobs,” Mello said of the proposed new Walmart, contending it would siphon business and employees from other local retailers.

Mello cites as accomplishments pushing for federal funds to support Tacoma police’s cold case squad and supporting breaks in utility bills for poor, senior and disabled customers.

Mello also supports a city vision to develop a public-private “clean water technology” research hub on the east side of the Foss Waterway as way to create jobs.

Campaign finance records show Mello has raised more than $31,000, with about $13,000 cash on hand.

Baker, who has unsuccessfully run for offices ranging from governor and state auditor to Tacoma mayor, did not respond to interview requests.

In a rambling statement he submitted for the Pierce County Voter’s Pamphlet, Baker blamed the U.S. Attorney and the city’s mayor and council for rigging elections.

The council has “blatantly unconstitutional criminal laws that are written so broadly and so vaguely they give the City Council and the Police the power to arrest any person in the City anytime because they feel like it,” he added.

Baker has been arrested numerous times and was fined by the state Public Disclosure Commission for repeatedly failing to file required paperwork while running for county auditor in 2009.

Lewis Kamb: 253-597-8542 lewis.kamb @thenewstribune.com blog.thenewstribune.com/politics Twitter: @lewiskamb

Tacoma City Council Candidates

District 3

Lauren Walker

Age: 53

Residence: Hilltop

Job: Executive Director of Fair Housing Center of Washington

Community Experience: Pierce County Ombudsman on Aging, president of Hilltop Action Coalition

Robert Hill

Age: 41

Residence: Central Tacoma

Job: “Computer program and fraud investigator”*

Community experience: precinct committee officer, Pierce County Democrats

District 7

David Boe

Age: 50

Residence: West End

Job: Principal architect, Boe Architects

Community experience: Tacoma Planning Commission, Tacoma Arts Commission

Mike Hardy

Age: 56

Residence: South End

Job: Electrician

Community experience: Two-time commander Tacoma’s American Veterans Post No. 1

District 8

Ryan Mello

Age: 32

Residence: Central Tacoma

Job: Pierce County director, Cascade Land Conservancy

Community experience: Metro Parks Board commissioner, assistant to state Rep. Hans Dunshee

Will Baker

Did not respond

*According to Pierce County Voters’ Pamphlet