Local elections are over

Meet your new leaders BY PAM STEVENS | EDITOR After months of campaigning, candidate forums and knocking on doors the candidates of local elections have been chosen and there are some fresh faces joining the city council in 2008.

Mayor Vern Little won his mayoral seat with 61 percent of the vote. Little, who was city council president before being appointed Mayor last November after Lynn Walty stepped down for personal reasons, has been campaigning hard while still fulfilling his duties as Mayor and working his full-time job as a manager at the Boeing Company.

“I would like to thank everyone for their support over the last four years.  It has been my pleasure to serve the citizens of this great community of Lake Stevens,” Little said.  “I'm looking forward to serving you over the next four years.  Thanks again for all your support.”

Two new faces join the council with John Spencer taking the position three seat with 56 percent of the vote. Steve Brooks who lost the primary election last August previously held this seat.

Spencer used to head the Department of Ecology and is currently a utility consultant for CH2MHill.

“I would like to thank all the voters who turned out for this important election,” Spencer said. “The City has some very significant challenges ahead. My goal is to get busy on all fronts (transportation, recreation, environmental quality). I am particularly concerned about managing growth and providing excellent transportation.”

Mark Somers, who manages Everett’s cable access channel has been a regular at city council meetings but will now be sitting in the council seat previously occupied by Karen Alessi.

Somers took the vote by a small margin of only about four percent.

Both Suzanne Quigley and Kathy Holder, who were appointed earlier this year, won their seats back.

Quigley filled the empty seat left by Mayor Little and Holder replaced Arnie Clark after he took a position within the city.

Quigley, who won with 68 percent of the vote, was instrumental in annexing the Frontier Heights area into Lake Stevens and is currently the Executive Director for the Listen and Talk School.

Holder works part-time for the Lake Stevens School District as a Para-educator at Hillcrest Elementary School while her husband is currently serving in Iraq. She kept her council seat with 60 percent of the vote.

“I am very excited to be able to continue on with the work of the city,” Holder said. “I'm looking forward to working with the mayor in getting our Public Works department additional money and personnel to start making much needed improvements in our roads and sidewalks. I'm also planning on being proactive in improving our park situation by looking at any opportunities for park acquisition and for improving our existing parks.”

Lake Stevens School Board election winners were John Boerger, who will be a new addition to the board and Mari Taylor and Rod Mace.

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