Candidates discuss restrictions, housing and the Navy

Despite their differences, twelve candidates seeking to become the next state and federal representatives, state senators and county commissioners all acknowledged the struggles of running a business and affording a home on Whidbey Island, and the importance of the neighboring Navy.

Thursday’s Candidate Forum Luncheon was presented by the Oak Harbor Chamber of Commerce at Best Western Plus in Oak Harbor.

Rep. Rick Larsen, a Democrat who has served 12 terms as Washington’s second congressional district, is being challenged by Cody Hart, a Republican.

Larsen said the federal government plays a limited role in supporting small businesses, but it can increase the amount of money that they can expense and not pay taxes on.

Hart, who owns an engineering firm in Skagit County, said business owners are suffering due to overregulation, which is causing employers not to afford to retain staff with low wages. And amid the rising cost of fuel, struggling businesses may also be unable to entice potential workers from the mainland.

Energy codes are particularly to blame for the rising cost of housing, Hart said, and need to be decentralized rather than applied uniformly across the west. There is no point in imposing costly rules for the sake of sustainability when the carbon footprint is not being offset and people can’t afford to comply, he said.

Hart, a NAS Whidbey veteran who feels a strong connection with the Navy community, said he is considering the possibility of funding training opportunities for veteran-owned businesses through the Small Business Administration.

Larsen has served on the House Armed Services Committee for 22 years and is also a supporter of the Navy, which he said has a positive impact on housing, businesses and education.

The candidates also tackled transportation. Larsen is the ranking member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and was also part of the effort to secure $8.7 billion in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding for the state’s infrastructure, a project he said has “put people to work.”

Hart has been involved with a number of federally funded projects, and developing working relationships with local governments is part of his job.

Sen. Ron Muzzall, a Republican, is defending his Legislative District 10 seat from Janet St. Clair, a Democrat and current county commissioner.

In light of recent news coverage about his views on abortion protections, Muzzall started off by assuring the audience that he does not “hate women.”

Muzzall, a farmer, has served in this position since 2019. He is a fourth generation business owner in Oak Harbor and has been endorsed by the Association of Washington Business.

“There is a cost of doing business in Washington state that does not exist in other states,” he said, adding that many businesses leave the state due to overregulation and overtaxation — two issues he intends to alleviate.

He was critical of the Climate Commitment Act for increasing the cost of fuel and affecting farmers, fishermen and businesses, and of the Growth Management Act, which is affecting the cost and availability of housing because it’s too restrictive.

St. Clair, a member of the Oak Harbor and Camano Chambers of Commerce, talked about the need to balance regulations relating to climate change and public health issues like COVID with the needs of small businesses and residents in need of a home.

As county commissioner and a member of the Economic Development Council and the Washington State Community Economic Revitalization boards, St. Clair has supported small businesses. The board of commissioners devoted a percentage of American Rescue Plan funds to support struggling businesses during the pandemic and allocated $9 million dollars to workforce housing that they are trying to prevent from turning into market-rate housing.

St. Clair said she has been addressing access to childcare for families and healthcare for military families and veterans. In Washington D.C., she contributed to the development of a resolution for TRICARE finance reforms, which she hopes will be enacted.

Muzzall has family members who have died serving the country, and while he acknowledged people are free to criticize the Navy, he said the base is a blessing for the island. As he ran out of time, he said TRICARE was “a disaster for those who lived under it.”

Rep. Dave Paul, a Democrat seeking to represent the 10th District for a fourth term, is being challenged by Gary Wray, a Republican.

Paul, who works as the director of external relations at Skagit Valley College, focuses on education issues and opportunities for professional growth, especially for people working in small businesses, as well as ensuring infrastructure needs — like broadband — are met.

Affordable workforce housing isn’t talked about enough in Olympia, and it’s an issue he has been advocating for, he said. This effort has led to funding for local organizations like Habitat for Humanity and the Goosefoot, two nonprofits dedicated to affordable housing.

Wray, who owns a siding subcontractor business, said he isn’t much of a public speaker or a politician, but is running because he understands the struggles faced by business owners and feels like Olympia isn’t listening to the citizens. He supports all initiatives on the ballot, and believes initiatives have the biggest chance of driving change.

Wray is the former president of the Building Industry Association of Washington, and he has been involved with a number of local affordable housing organizations.

Subsidies, he said, won’t fix the housing crisis, and the state building and energy codes have caused the average cost of a home to increase significantly. Similarly to Hart, he said building energy efficient homes is a futile expense because they won’t offset emissions, but make building a home more expensive.

Both candidates acknowledged the importance of the Navy. Wray has served in the Navy for six years, working as a reactor operator on submarines, and feels a connection with fellow veterans and Navy families. Paul has worked with state officials to secure funding for the Oak Harbor School District, where many Navy children are enrolled, and has led efforts to support education opportunities for veterans seeking to advance their careers after serving.

Democrat Clyde Shavers, who is in his first term of serving the Washington House of Representatives 10th District, is facing Republican Carrie Kennedy, a proud Navy wife and daughter.

Kennedy said it has been hard for her seeing young people, including her 28-year-old child, being unable to afford a home. Many people working at the base, she said, are forced to commute from the mainland because finding affordable housing on Whidbey is challenging.

She wants to listen to people’s concerns, and that the most common concerns she hears about are the cost of housing and the need to reduce restrictions and bring costs down.

“I think the problem that we’ve got in the country right now, and especially in Washington, is the restrictions that are being placed on almost everything,” she said.

Shavers’ solution to the housing crisis is 3D printing small homes. To make this a reality, he has been working with the Washington State Building Code Council to implement 3D printers, which don’t need sleep, have low workforce demand — which makes them cheaper — and are less wasteful.

Shavers, a Navy veteran, has also worked on expanding a property tax exemption to help veterans, seniors and people with disabilities whose housing is at risk because they can’t keep up with rising property taxes. Other veteran-related efforts include sponsoring the Purple Star Award and co-sponsoring a bill to provide tax relief for veteran-owned businesses and businesses that hire low-income veterans and active duty spouses, he said.

To further help families, Shavers is also working on making child care more accessible and to give tax incentives to businesses that contribute to the effort.

Democrat Marie Shimada is challenging Democrat Melanie Bacon’s second term bid to represent District 1. Damian Greene, who announced after the primary election that he is running as the Republican write-in candidate, was not invited to the event.

Bacon is a former business owner who said she understands the frustrations of business owners who are overtaxed and overregulated. While she has been in office, the commissioners have provided American Rescue Plan Act funding to support small businesses and develop housing for low-income residents. The commissioners have worked on six different affordable housing projects, with 162 units currently being under construction in Oak Harbor.

She said the county can support Oak Harbor residents, the schools and the Navy by supporting initiatives that are important to each entity. The county has done so by providing Rural County Economic Development funds for sewer infrastructure and improvements, or providing Oak Harbor Conservation Futures funding to purchase Freund Marsh.

A Vietnam era veteran, Bacon believes the Navy is an important resource in the area. During her time on the board, the county hired a Veterans Service Officer, which has helped the county secure funding for veteran benefits, she said.

Shimada works in the food industry and is engaged to a small business owner. If elected, she would support chambers in bringing businesses and communities together to talk about issues and solutions. She said she joined the board of the Economic Development Council because she was worried that there was a lack of a voice for small businesses.

Some people on Whidbey live in RVs or other housing situations that are not legal because, she said, there are no creative solutions in place to allow people to live in housing that suits their income level, something she intends to work on.

Shimada intends to further cultivate a partnership with the Navy. Before she resigned from her role as Ebey’s Reserve manager, she had already developed a positive relationship with the base, which she alleges caused an unnamed Trust Board member and their family to “ostracize and harass” her.

Republican Jill Johnson, the District 2 Commissioner running for a fourth term, is being challenged by Democrat Christina Elliott.

Johnson said many of the rules people are unhappy about are not established by the county, but by state representatives.

The former executive director of the Oak Harbor Chamber of Commerce believes local governments should be flexible, implement common sense and “get out of the way,” she said. With less dependence on the government comes a more free market, she said.

Still, in some cases, strict state regulations are necessary. For example, she said, food regulations can protect people from getting bugs in their meals.

Johnson talked about what the county can actually do to support local businesses. One of these things is investing in infrastructure. For example, during her time as a commissioner, the county has contributed millions of dollars to the dredging of the Oak Harbor Marina, and millions in sewer-related projects.

Though affordable housing is a major concern, Johnson said many residents opposed the idea of affordable housing projects in their area.

“There needs to be an awareness that housing is going to go next to you,” she said.

Elliott, an attorney, small business owner and Navy spouse, said the cost of living on Whidbey is a struggle for the Navy community. One way to help Navy families is to make child care more accessible, which would allow many unemployed Navy spouses to work and afford to live on the island.

She also believes a way to bring more workers to Oak Harbor is to improve multi-modal transportation, as she said many people are forced to buy a second car because public transportation is inadequate and Oak Harbor isn’t safe enough to ride a bike. Ensuring all businesses have reliable internet will also allow them to reliably process payments, she said.