Race for city council seats in home stretch

Published 12:45 pm Saturday, October 24, 2015

As the days leading up to the general election tick away, the 2015 Bellevue City Council candidates are trying to tackle the city’s growing pains. Transportation and affordable housing are key issues put forth by each candidate – the difference between them comes from how they would tackle those issues.

Bellevue’s voters have a choice between sending the council on a fiscally conservative or more of a moderate path by Election Day, Nov. 3.

Seven candidates are competing for four spots, three of them contested.

The Reporter spoke with the candidates to talk about their plans, strengths and weaknesses.

Council member John Stokes is unopposed as for Position 1.

For Position 3, incumbent John Chelminiak is pitted against longtime Bellevue resident and former council member Don Davidson.

Chelminiak has experience working for conservative King County officials in the past, but has deviated from the Republican line in recent years, making him a relatively independent voice on the council. He supports more public funding for A Regional Coalition for Housing (ARCH) for affordable housing.

Davidson steered Bellevue through some important, formative years and began contentious work with Sound Transit before health issues and a loss in a three-way primary in 2013 caused him to step away from politics. He looks toward a measured approach on the East Side Rail Line.

Davidson believes public funding for ARCH should be a last resort, and other organizations for affordable housing should be looked at.

The Position 5 race will see Michelle Hilhorst, an IT operations manager, go up against a pharmaceutical executive with a different tack in Vandana Slatter.

Hilhorst is the Chair of the Bellevue Planning Commission and believes her experience and vision for the city are a good fit on the city council.

Slatter believes encouraging businesses to set up shop in Bellevue is the key to a prosperous city.

Position 7 will be decided between land-use lawyer and incumbent Jennifer Robertson and alternative transportation advocate Lyndon Heywood.

Heywood is a firebrand who wants to reform the City Council and get money out of local politics.

Robertson wants to maintain the strong neighborhood ties in Bellevue while anticipating the wave of population growth predicted to hit the city in the next decade. She sees the proper way to address the coming growth is careful planning and fiscal conservatism.

Heywood wants to expand transit, pedestrian and cycling alternatives in lieu of more roads, which would lead to a safer and friendlier city, he believes. He wants a bigger city council to include more of the neighborhoods of the city and be more representative.