LYNNWOOD—With just over two weeks left until the November 4 General Elections, the Lynnwood Times invited Lynnwood CC candidate Dio Boucsieguez back for another interview with a new set of questions on his platform and policies.
The first time the Lynnwood Times interviewed Boucsieguez was just before the Primaries. The Times also reached out to Boucsieguez’s opponent, Derica Escamilla, but she was unable to attend last week’s event, nor did she respond to our request for a follow-up interview.
Boucsieguez believes that Lynnwood, at its core, is a blue-collar community. He wants to be able to maintain its traditional neighborhood aspect that he fell in love with when he and his family first moved here ten years ago. At the same time, he continued, the city needs to adjust for growth. He is proposing to do this by maintaining single family zoning to incentivize home ownership, while also zoning 196th and Highway 99 for condos and apartments to allow for low-income housing options and absorb a potential population boom.
As far as economic development, Boucsieguez has an idea of creating, what he calls, “economic opportunity zones” within the city that could attract new businesses to Lynnwood. In these proposed zones, which he is suggesting could be along Highway 99, the city would offer a sales tax deferral to allow businesses to delay paying taxes associated with new construction. This would apply to new businesses and new housing.
If elected, one of the first things Boucsieguez wants to request of his colleagues is to conduct a fiscal and process audit on City Administration to make sure the city is operating as effectively and efficiently as possible. This audit would be conducted by a third party, and its findings would guide the course of budgetary spendings actions in the future.
Boucsieguez is a 10-year resident of Lynnwood, holds his bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington, and is a union member of UFCW 3000. His priorities are budgeting, growth management, trust and transparency, fostering the arts/culture/entertainment, and public safety.
Balancing the budget
According to Finance Director Michelle Meyer, the city of Linwood is facing a $10.7 million budget deficit for the 2025 budget cycle that the city council approved with a vote of 4-3 in November 2024. Factors contributing to these current shortfalls include:
- Lower than projected revenues from sources such as sales tax, fees, and red-light camera tickets
- Rising operational costs for utilities maintenance
- Delays in major private investment, such as Northline Village, resulting in less revenue generation for the city
- A plan was put forth and is being implemented by Mayor Christine Frizzell, which involves:
- Layoffs of nine employees and elimination of seasonal staffing
- A 6% reduction for the police department
- A 10% reduction for all other general fund departments
- Reducing non-personal expenditures, travel training, and eliminating non-critical purchases
Still, this leaves a budget shortfall of $3 million through 2025 and $8 million through 2026. Boucsieguez was asked how he would plan to resolve the immediate, and long-term, shortfall.
“We have to be able to cut costs in the city, and it’s going to hurt. But it’s a good first step, but I believe that there are other ways that we can try to workshop things on the city council with my new colleagues,” said Boucsieguez.
Boucsieguez is advocating for a third-party financial audit of the city first and foremost, to ensure city government is spending residents’ tax dollars as efficiently as possible.
Restoring trust in local government
Regarding restoring trust in city government, Boucsieguez seeks to have integrity and honesty with people.
“We have a sitting council member who denies that their dog ever bit anyone, even though there’s photographic proof and video evidence of their dog biting someone. That dog is a public safety threat. And I’ve been very honest, one could even say almost to my detriment, about me, about who I am,” said Boucsieguez. “One of the biggest things, the main thing that we have to do is we have to have council members, elected officials, who have integrity and who are honest with the people about why they’re voting for something in particular…because one of the worst things that can happen with an elected official is that they lie. When elected officials lie to the public, you lose that trust in the system overall.”
Youth Violence
Regarding youth violence, which is an ongoing concern in Lynnwood with statistics showing an increase in juvenile case reports and arrests driven by factors such as gang activity, assaults, and shootings, Boucsieguez was asked how he would tackle the ongoing issue.
Boucsieguez rejected Council members Joshua Binda and Derica Escamilla’s creation of a Youth Council, saying he doesn’t think “it’s even going to get us anywhere” because it will only target a small percentage of youth who are interested in sports and politics.
A better solution, according to Boucsieguez, is to have more after school activity options especially activities in the trades that could open themselves up to potential job opportunities, either through apprenticeships or educational workshops.
“You have to give kids things to do to occupy their time, and especially young boys, in order to curtail that violent behavior,” said Boucsieguez.
Boucsieguez would also like to see the return of School Resource Officers.
Preparing for growth
Boucsieguez was then asked how he would help the city prepare for growth, especially during a time of budget crises and when both state and federal resources are limited.
Boucsieguez said he would champion for annexing nearby unincorporated land to increase the borders and, by its extension, receive more tax dollars (particularly property tax) from more residents.
“What I would like to see happen is to workshop with the rest of my city council colleagues, when I get elected on the city council, to be able to come up with these ideas and ideas that ultimately will not hurt Lynnwood residents but ultimately benefit Lynnwood residents as a whole,” said Boucsieguez.
While not inherently against raising taxes, Boucsieguez would still walk a thin line of raising taxes to be 100% sure Lynnwood residents would gain more benefits from taxation rather than hinderance.
The areas that Boucsieguez would like to see annexed are Alderwood Manor and 164th.
Housing
With rising housing prices, and a 52% property tax recently adopted by the City Council – which disproportionately impacts seniors and those living on a fixed income, Boucsieguez was asked how we would ensure Lynnwood remains a livable city while also attracting newcomers.
“I think we should definitely take a pause on increasing the property taxes more until we get that audit done, the aforementioned audit that I was talking about. Secondly, what I would like to see happen is maybe manufacture more homes,” said Boucsieguez. “Right now, Lynnwood is one of the, if not the most affordable city in South County. And I want to be able to keep it that way.”
Boucsieguez, a self-identified working-class man, shared that Lynnwood’s property taxes have hit him and his family hard.
While seniors and those living on a fixed income are adversely affected, it also impacts renters, Boucsieguez said, because it often drives up the cost of rent.
Ethical development
Last week, Lynnwood greenlit a development agreement with PFD to actualize its $600 million vision to redevelop the downtown core, of which the city would be responsible for the construction of 194th and Ring Road.
Boucsieguez was asked how we would ensure contractors for current and future projects would pay their workers fairly and equitably. His solution would be to make sure the city hires local union workers.
“Because when you hire union, you have various safety laws that are put into place, right, to ensure that there’s a safe working environment and that workers are paid fairly. You might not necessarily get that outside of labor. But with labor, with unions, you do get those assurances that there will be a safe working environment for workers and that they will be paid fairly,” said Boucsieguez.
Protecting Lynnwood’s parks and trails
Lynnwood is home to many parks and trails. Most recently completed parks projects being Scriber Lake Park Boardwalk Trail, which is now fully accessible, and Scriber Creek Trail Phase 2, which improved pedestrian access to the transit center and light rail station.
Boucsieguez was then asked what could be done to improve the city’s green spaces.
He replied that during his time doorbelling, he consistently hears residents share that they want more connectivity between the city’s green spaces – such as a trail that leads from one to the next.
“I think that’s something that we can look at, because we do have some great parks, we do have some great green spaces here in Lynnwood,” said Boucsieguez.
Closing remarks
To conclude our interview, Boucsieguez was granted the opportunity to address Lynnwood residents and share why he believes he deserves their vote.
He shared that firstly it should be telling that he attended the live interview and his opponent, current City Councilwoman Derica Escamilla, did not.
“I have lived in the city for 10 years. I love the city. I love Lynnwood. People oftentimes talk about Lynnwood in somewhat disparaging terms. I think of Linwood as a city with great opportunity, great opportunity for growth, great opportunity for diversification of businesses and experiences here in Lynnwood,” said Boucsieguez. “So I ask for your vote, Lynnwood residents. I ask for your vote because I love this city, and if you love your city, I think you’ll vote for me too. Thank you.”
Author: Kienan Briscoe
