I am delighted that Mayor Joe Marine is running for re-election, and I encourage my fellow Mukilteans to support him.
He has been an outstanding mayor with vision for our city. He is highly capable, cares about all of Mukilteo, and has a pleasant, collaborative personality—plus an endless supply of dad jokes. We are so lucky to have him!
His opponent, Councilmember Steve Schmalz, has tried to attack him based on the city’s financial situation, but the reality is that Mukilteo’s finances are in much better shape than those of many surrounding jurisdictions. For example, Edmonds reportedly even considered selling some of their park land.
Mukilteo’s financial challenges are because of the significant inflation caused at the federal level—they are not from any fault of the mayor—and in fact, the mayor presented a workable budget.
Mayor Marine had asked the city’s department heads to cut as much as they could from an already lean budget, and they managed to cut about $140,000 per year.
Councilmember Schmalz, in contrast, voted to add unnecessary items to the budget (items not requested by department heads), thus increasing the spending, and then at the end, he voted against the overall budget after he had added to it.
Those aren’t the actions of a leader willing to make hard decisions.
So if you hear Councilmember Schmalz or his ally, Councilmember Mike Dixon, criticize Mayor Marine for anything fiscal, just remember: those are the two who padded the city budget before voting against it, knowing it would pass even without their votes.
My husband and I have regularly attended city council meetings for more than 5 years, so we have seen how things go. We have seen the personalities and abilities of both candidates. There is no question who is better qualified to be mayor.
Mayor Marine leads the city with competence, wisdom, fairness, and vision. We should re-elect Joe!
Sharon Damoff, Mukilteo
Op-Ed DISCLAIMER: The views and comments expressed are those of the writer and not necessarily those of the Lynnwood Times nor any of its affiliates.
Author: Lynnwood Times Staff
One Response
I support Mayor Joe Marine’s re-election, he has done an outstanding job regarding financial responsibility, proven ability to lead, with excellent leadership qualities and his overall attentiveness to the needs of Mukilteo residents. If Joe Marine is not re-elected, there is a potentially strong negative impact on the city and it’s residents. I encourage voter’s to re-elect Joe Marine and to get more involved in the weekly council meetings. These meetings make it apparent which council member’s are not in tune with what Mukilteo residents want……