For Kirkland City Council, Matt Gregory and Amy Walen offer the right approach

KIRKLAND is poised for transformation if residents of unincorporated King County vote to join the waterfront city known for its strong neighborhoods.

The Kirkland City Council will have its hands full if voters in Finn Hill, Juanita and Kingsgate vote to annex in November. The city population would swell from 48,000 to 81,000. Candidates in this year's council races — four seats are up for election, two without an incumbent — should be evaluated for their ability to shape the transforming city, not just dealing with more residents but addressing its systemic budget challenges that go beyond the current recession.

Only Position 5 has drawn more than two candidates to place it on the primary ballot. Current Mayor Jim Lauinger, who holds this seat, is not running for re-election.

Of the three candidates, Matt Gregory and Amy Walen have the best strategy to set Kirkland on the right track forward — and are receiving The Seattle Times' dual endorsement to continue their conversation toward November.

Gregory, an architect, is an old city hand, having served on the planning commission. And Walen, controller and part-owner of Ford of Kirkland, would bring formidable business sense to the council though her light civic résumé has given opponents fodder to attack her. She earned a law degree in Australia.

Both support the annexation, even though it brings challenges to the city. Both also articulate the desire to balance Kirkland and its historic charm with the need to improve the city's tax base.

The third candidate in the race, Karen Tennyson, has been active in Kirkland as a business owner, neighborhood leader and advocate and planning commission member. But she seems much less able to consider the new Kirkland, still embracing the council's divisions of neighborhoods vs. business.

Better to strike a balance — an approach we are confident that Gregory and Walen would adopt. The Times endorses Matt Gregory and Amy Walen for Kirkland City Council Position 5.