City of Lakewood

Incumbent Commissioner Dick Marzano is running to retain Port of Tacoma, Position 2. Marzano was first elected commissioner in 1995 and serves on the executive committee for the Puget Sound Regional Council. Before his career in public service, Marzano spent 52 years working in Tacoma as a longshoreman and was also the president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 23.

If re-elected, Marzano wants to prioritize environmental protections and job creation. With his background as a longshoreman, Marzano knows that the two issues are connected and that those who live and work near the port are directly affected by its environmental impact. However, Marzano has not been supportive of protecting our communities from pollution from the proposed LNG facility.

Mary Bacon is running for Port of Tacoma, Commissioner Position 4. Bacon is an environmental scientist, health physicist, and veteran. She served as the elected president of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE) Local 12 where she advocated for workers’ rights during multiple successful contract negotiations.

If elected, Bacon hopes to address traffic congestion in and around the port, help foster greater economic growth, and ensure environmental stewardship that protects the unique estuarine ecosystem. She would prioritize science-backed climate policy and wants to see ports along the coast working together. Bacon has been endorsed by the Washington Conservation Voters, which sets her apart from her opponent despite listing similar platforms on their websites.

Incumbent commissioner Don Meyer is running to retain the Position 4 seat he assumed after first being elected in 2010. Before that, Meyer served as the deputy director of the Port of Tacoma and the executive director of the Foss Waterway Development Authority. If re-elected, he wants to continue pursuing a more conservative agenda focused on modernizing terminals and waterways, but also intends to limit revenue, putting many improvements beyond reach.

Mary Bacon is the best choice in this race to improve the port’s environment policies and advocate for the workers who keep Tacoma’s port running.

Incumbent Mary Moss is running unopposed for her seat on the Lakewood City Council.

She is a retired community development consultant for a credit union and has served on the council since her election in 2009. Moss has also served as vice president of the State Air Force Association, president of the Lakewood Multicultural Coalition, and as a board member of the Lakewood Rotary Club and Sound Transit among other organizations. In her next term, she plans to focus on economic development, improving infrastructure, and expanding parks.

Army Special Forces veteran Amelia Escobedo is running for Lakewood City Council, Position 2, to push for a reckoning on police accountability. She cites the still-open civil case of Said Joquin, who was killed by a Lakewood police officer, as an example of the dangers of not holding officers to account. Escobedo's other priorities include expanding affordable housing, especially in areas where low-income housing is being displaced, building no-barrier entry housing for people experiencing homelessness, and respecting tribal treaties.

Escobedo is facing incumbent Mike Brandstetter, who has served on the Lakewood City Council since 2010 and who represents the council on the South Sound 911 policy board. He is a retired Army command sergeant major and former dean at Bates Technical College. He does not have a campaign website available but has stated that his priorities include addressing affordable housing and homelessness, building a new library and senior center, and continuing to expand human services in Lakewood.

Lakewood is growing rapidly and in the years to come will need to reckon with harsh economic truths. An estimated 17 percent of the population lives below the poverty line, higher than the national average of 13 percent. In addition, the community must address a legacy of excessive use of force by the police department, which has been sued five times since 2011 just for incidents involving police dogs and has been slow to implement body cameras.

In this low-information race, we lean towards Escobedo who we hope will provide prospective and progress on these and other issues.

Siabhon Ayuso is an executive board member for the Pierce County Democratic Central Committee for Legislative District 29. She does not yet have a campaign website as of mid-October but states that as a single mom of four kids, she would focus on bringing economic opportunities for those who live in Lakewood. She states that frontline workers during the pandemic should have been offered hazard pay, which the city council voted down, and that more needs to be done to bring better-paying jobs to Lakewood. On her campaign Facebook, she has posted in support of removing Sheriff Ed Troyer for his racist and potentially criminal endangerment of a Black man in Pierce County, as well as in support of justice for those killed by the police. Overall, Ayuso is looking to represent the community, especially communities of color who she feels have been ignored by the council.

Ayuso is facing Republican and deputy mayor Jason Whalen, who has served in Position 3 on the city council since 2010. While we appreciate his support of increasing mental and behavioral health service funding, the rest of his platform skews conservative. His fearmongering ads against Jani Hitchen, who he ran against for Pierce County Council last year, attempted to divide and deceive voters.

We believe it's time for the Lakewood City Council to reflect a broader set of voices from the rapidly changing community. While she faces a challenging race against the longtime incumbent, we believe Ayuso would bring valuable progressive leadership to the council that would benefit all Lakewood families.

Patti Belle was appointed to the Lakewood City Council in January. She previously worked as a communications team manager in the city of Kent's Office of the Mayor. If re-elected, Belle states that she will continue to focus on investing in infrastructure, prioritizing funding for city services, and increasing communications from the council.

Belle's opponent is Ria Covington Johnson, who previously ran for Lakewood City Council in 2017 and 2019. Her voters' guide statement cites that she has been a VISTA volunteer and worked with the Lakewood African American Police Advisory Committee (LAAPAC). If elected, she plans to focus on implementing inclusive policy at the city level, but her campaign website lacks detail or a platform, similar to her previous runs.

Belle has not yet served long enough to establish a detailed record on the council but she appears to be the better choice in this race.