This is a crucial week for Washington democracy. We need sharp iron, not dull blades
A moment of truth, also known as filing week, has arrived for anyone who aspires to win an elected seat, or keep one, in local governments across the state.
Two Western Washington communities underscore the importance of recruiting, training and electing high-caliber people to office — and for voters not to become a rubber stamp for politics as usual.
One is Sequim, a city on the Olympic Peninsula that’s home to a misfit mayor. William Armacost has given his blessing to the QAnon conspiracy, thumbed his nose at COVID-19 safety guidelines and received flack for wearing a profane T-shirt to the local Costco.
The other is Steilacoom, a town in South Pierce County. Dick Muri is a steady veteran politician, unlike the loose cannon leading Sequim. But Muri recently was appointed interim mayor without so much as a City Council interview or a chance for the public to ask questions.
While these two communities are small — less than 15,000 people, combined — they offer a cautionary lesson.
Big names and fat campaign war chests associated with state and federal offices are mostly on hold in odd-numbered years. But good local governance hinges on capable, clearheaded people with fresh ideas stepping forward by this Friday afternoon — and for voters to stay engaged over the coming months.
It would be foolish to claim that Muri, 67, is incapable of leading Steilacoom. The former state representative, Pierce County Council member, Steilacoom School Board director and Air Force officer has held nearly every local leadership post but mayor. He was a close friend and political confidante of Ron Lucas, the longtime mayor who died from pancreatic cancer in March.
But the way Muri was given the job felt more like he was anointed than appointed. No public interviews. No give-and-take with Town Council members. He coasted through on the strength of his resume, and on account of there being just two applicants.
“It doesn’t seem like that’s how the democratic process should work,” Steilacoom resident John Alessio told us Monday. “The town has been well run, don’t get me wrong, but we haven’t had a lot of transparency.”
Alessio said the perfunctory appointment “reeked of the old-boy network kind of stuff.”
Fortunately, Washington has biennial local elections that serve as a safety valve. Muri filed Monday to run for a full four-year term.
“If people think there’s somebody out there who’s best qualified to do the job or more in tune with their values,” he welcomes the challenge, he said.
Amen to that. Pierce County needs competitive elections for mayor and other powerful offices from Steilacoom to Tacoma. Think of it as a crucible where iron sharpens iron.
Elections are also necessary to remove dull (but still dangerous) blades from the workshed.
In Sequim, Armacost embarrassed his city last year by calling the QAnon conspiracy a “truth movement” during one of his regular “Coffee with the mayor” broadcasts; he sent listeners to a YouTube video, later taken down, that peddles the filth that the US government is controlled by a deep-state network of pedophile elites.
Armacost also attended last year’s infamously maskless motorcycle rally in Sturgis, South Dakota, which health researchers branded a superspreader event, and he cut corners on quarantining upon returning home.
He went viral again this month when photos circulated of him wearing a grossly unmayorly T-shirt while shopping: “This is the USA – We Eat Meat – We Drink Beer – We Own Guns – We Speak English – We Love Freedom – If you do not like that get the ---- out.”
Armacost was appointed to the City Council in 2018, elected on an uncontested ballot in 2019 and chosen mayor by council members even less experienced than him in 2020. Sequim voters haven’t been able to accept or reject him in a competitive election — and they won’t this year because his first term’s not up.
In Pierce County, however, there are myriad ways to advance the cause of good government, whether as well-informed voters or as civic-spirited candidates filing this week for 190 nonpartisan positions.
As it says on the Pierce County Auditor’s website: “Run for office; be the change.”
News Tribune editorials reflect the views of our Editorial Board and are written by opinion editor Matt Misterek. Other board members are: Stephanie Pedersen, News Tribune president and editor; Matt Driscoll, local columnist; and Jim Walton, community representative. The Editorial Board operates independently from the newsroom and does not influence the work of news reporting and editing staffs. For questions about the board or our editorials, email matt.misterek@thenewstribune.com
This story was originally published May 18, 2021 at 8:50 AM.