3 focus on taxes, leadership in race for Redmond mayor

Business taxes and an outgoing leader's management style dominate the race to replace Redmond Mayor Rosemarie Ives, who is stepping down after 16 years in office.

The three candidates — John Marchione, Jim Robinson and Holly Plackett — are all current or former council members.

A fixture in Eastside politics for decades, Ives has been an outspoken and forceful mayor. Redmond, unlike most Eastside cities with a council-manager system, has a full-time elected mayor who earns $106,000 per year.

But Plackett and Marchione say Ives has wielded too much control over information and access to staff, a style that has frequently put her at odds with council members. Both promise a more open and collaborative approach.

But Robinson, who touts Ives' endorsement in his campaign, said the City Council has had enough information to make decisions.

"If you're not satisfied with what you're getting, you have to dig in there and find out what the problem is," he said.

Budget clashes

Marchione, a first-term councilman who serves as chair of the finance committee, said he's clashed with Ives on the budget since joining the council in 2003. The city needs to keep spending in line with revenues and "live within its means," he said. He would identify "efficiencies" that could save money, and work with the City Council and the community to prioritize city services, he said.

Marchione supports changing the city's Comprehensive Plan so that "superblocks" can be broken into smaller, more walkable blocks. He would make sure downtown has the infrastructure to attract condominium developers so that new growth can be concentrated downtown rather than spread throughout the city. A livelier downtown would encourage people to stay in Redmond for shopping and dining, he said.

"People want a downtown with an identity," he said.

Marchione, who represents Redmond on the Cascade Water Alliance, points to recent council approval for funding a water filtration system for downtown Redmond. The system will ensure that runoff to Bear Creek and the Sammamish River is treated, rather than relying on the treatment systems of individual property owners. This will enable growth in Redmond while protecting the environment, said Marchione, who pushed for the system as former chair of the public works committee. Marchione's mother, Doreen Marchione, served as mayor from 1983 until she was defeated by Ives in 1991.

Strongest critic

Ives' most passionate critic, Plackett would order a full audit of the city's revenues and expenses by a certified public accountant. The audit would educate the council and root out any potential problems, she said. Lack of information has stymied council decisions for years, she said.

Budgets came to the council too late and with too little supporting information, she said, with council members "scolded" if they asked questions of city staff.

"The budget comes in late; it's a surprise. There should be no surprises," she said.

To give the council and the public more time to discuss budget issues, Plackett said she would explore moving up the fiscal year so critical budget discussions don't come during winter holidays.

Plackett said she would also push to get the downtown transportation master plan funded, advocate for adding housing units to Redmond Town Center, create neighborhood associations, revise neighborhood plans and try to attract a community college or branch of the University of Washington to Redmond.

Revenue focus

Robinson, a financial analyst for Boeing and a City Council member for 16 years, said the race comes down to revenue. "You can talk stuff," he said, "but you've got to have money to do stuff."

That's why raising the tax that businesses pay for each full-time-equivalent employee would be his first priority, Robinson said.

Redmond's current "head" tax, about $90 per full-time employee or equivalent, reflects an increase of about $6 per head from the last budget cycle. That's inadequate, said Robinson, given that Redmond's employee base adds another 20,000 people to its daytime population. More employees put a greater strain on the city's infrastructure, such as its streets and parking.

"This imbalance is so great the citizens can no longer shoulder the tax burden," he said.

He supports taxing businesses on a graduated scale, so that small and medium-size businesses pay less than large ones.

Plackett says the current head tax is adequate and the system works because businesses invest in transportation projects and have a say in them. The system has yielded several improvements, such as the Northeast 90th Street Bridge, she said. Marchione, who does not support a business tax increase, said a 1997 city study on the cost of growth showed that businesses get fewer services in exchange for their tax dollars than residents.

The findings are still relevant, Marchione said: "It's always been known that residential growth does not pay for itself, but business growth does," he said.

While all three candidates support both property-tax levy-lid lifts on the August ballot, one of which would pay for additional firefighters and police officers, they say they would prefer to fund public safety out of the general fund, rather than put it to a vote.

During the summer of 2006, the city had rotating closures in fire stations until the City Council spent emergency funds to open them. The Municipal League rated Marchione and Plackett "outstanding" while Robinson received a rating of "good."

Amy Roe: 206-464-3347 or aroe@seattletimes.com