Candidates back ferries, differ on priorities
Published 4:00 pm Tuesday, October 26, 2004
Candidates vying to represent Bainbridge Island in Olympia are in the same boat when it comes to ferries, but take different routes on tourism and development.
Four candidates assembled at a Thursday forum agreed that the area’s economy hinges on improving the state’s ferry system.
“Having the ability to move goods and services across the Sound is critical for Kitsap County,” said Republican Doug Kitchens, a real estate agent challenging Rep. Phil Rockefeller (D-Bainbridge Island) for the district’s state Senate seat. “The state needs to treat ferries as an extension of the highway system.”
As vice chair of the House Transportation Committee, Rockefeller has long advocated ferry improvements. He envisions many small, walk-on ferries buzzing all over the county’s coastline.
“The Mosquito Fleet was a great model,” he said. “We need to go back to the days when there was easy access around the Kitsap Peninsula.
All candidates expressed optimism now that Washington State Ferries have new leadership, with the recent resignation of director Mike Thorne.
“I’m not unhappy that the current CEO left,” said state Rep. Beverly Woods. “I’ve been critical of his management style, and I bet he’s glad he’s not receiving my weekly phone calls.”
Woods, a Poulsbo Republican facing Democratic challenger Terry Ducheane, has served five years on the House Transportation Committee. She supports privatized ferry runs, including a planned Kingston-Seattle service.
Woods contended that Thorne oversaw a decrease in services, staff morale and food services while increasing fares. “He did not put customers first,” she said. “We need a viable new CEO to get our feet back on track.”
Sherry Appleton, a Democrat facing Frank Mahaffay for the district’s position 1 House seat, said WSF needs to hire management drawn from other ferry systems.
“We’ve had port managers and airport managers,” she said. “We need to find someone with ferry experience who knows how they run, how they’re built and the people that work on them.”
The lobbyist and former Poulsbo councilwoman wants to see expanded foot ferry service.
“Foot ferries are the sidewalks of the marine highway,” she said.
Appleton took aim at Initiative 695, a Tim Eyman-sponsored measure that stripped funding for foot ferries and other transportation services. Appleton would like to see the gas tax partially cover foot ferry service to cover the shortfall.
All candidates pledged to fight the rising cost of ferry commuting. “I will always be a ‘no’ vote on increasing ferry fares,” said Woods.
Appleton said riders bear too much of the system’s financial burden.
“No other mass transit in the world (takes) 80 percent at the fare box,” she said.
Candidates called Thursday’s forum, hosted by the Bainbridge Island Chamber of Commerce, their last before the Nov. 2 election. Some took the opportunity to drive home their priorities, with Republicans pledging to make Washington a “business friendly” state and the Democrats promising improved education.
Rockefeller, Woods and Kitchens expressed strong support for state-supported tourism promotion. Kitchens said promoting Washington as a travel destination was “a top priority for the state” while Woods praised tourism as a “clean industry.”
Rockefeller said he’d like to see more funding for local tourism councils. Appleton said better ferry services would boost tourism but voiced concerns about increasing promotional funding over health care and education.
“We have to fund various services,” she said. “I don’t want to have to choose between funding our children and elderly or funding tourism.”
Candidates divided themselves down party lines when it came to the Growth Management Act.
The two Democrats said they supported the act, with Appleton praising it as an effective compromise between environmental and development groups. Republicans said they’d like to see the GMA altered. Kitchens said he wanted greater local control and better financial compensation for property owners impacted by the GMA. Woods criticized the GMA for not meeting its goal of increasing affordable housing.
With Woods’ Democrat challenger Terry Ducheane and Appleton’s Republican opponent Frank Mahaffay absent, the forum elicited little direct debate.
The Senate candidates exchanged a few soft verbal blows when Kitchens pointed to Rockefeller’s law background and contrasted it with his experience in business.
“He’s an attorney and I’m for meaningful malpractice change,” he said. “I’m the only candidate here who has practical private sector experience.”
Rockefeller disagreed, citing his work in Weyerhaeuser’s law department and reciting business endorsements including the Washington Restaurant Association and labor groups.
