Unlike other Highline cities, there are some races for Normandy Park City Council that are not contested.

Doug Osterman, Shawn McEvoy and Charlie Harris are the incumbents running this year.

In the general election, ballots must be sent into King County Elections by Tuesday, Nov. 8.

We asked the candidates the following two questions:

1.What are your qualifications for the position?

2.How should the city of Normandy Park balance the mix of businesses, multi-family housing and single family residences in order to raise an adequate amount of tax revenue while maintaining Normandy Park's current character?

Normandy Park City Council Position 1

Doug Osterman
1.Qualifications. I am a 19-year resident of Normandy Park. My wife and I have two boys who are attending Highline public schools. As a family man, I’m motivated to ensure that Normandy Park is a great place to grow up. As a caring and passionate community member, I’m motivated to keep our city safe and a great place to live and play. I am a past Trustee of the Normandy Park Community Club and an active Steward of the Cove. I served as a Director of the Highline Botanical Garden in its formative years. I served two years as a Normandy Park Planning Commissioner. I was selected as the first and current President of the Metropolitan Parks District. I’m completing my fourth year on the Normandy Park City Council and working hard on my election commitments to you—Promote better retail areas and housing on First Avenue; Manage tax dollars responsibly; Keep effective city services healthy such as public safety; Make walking and biking convenient; Preserve green spaces; and Enhance our existing parks.

2.Balance. By being focused and positive, by making sound choices and setting priorities based on information and community values, and by outreaching and involving residents. That’s why I participated in the outreach project “Sightlines” during the summer of 2009. I went out into the community to have conversations with residents about the future of Normandy Park and how we might achieve this future. Conversations among residents are always valuable for making choices that are in alignment with what’s most important to the people of Normandy Park. I’m committed to productive community engagement for reviving Towne Center and renewing Manhattan Village, and maintaining our beautiful residential neighborhoods. Please stop by and visit any time while I’m out in my front yard gardening or playing with my family. Many neighbors do!

Normandy Park City Council Position 3

Shawn McEvoy
1. Qualifications. As a resident of Normandy Park for over 50 yrs., I understand this community, their hopes, fears, and desire to protect this very special place. I care deeply too about preserving and protecting our homes, parks, and community and have worked hard to keep it this way.

Prior to serving on the City Council, I volunteered as President and Board member for the Normandy Park Community Club 'Cove' for twelve years, revitalizing it and putting it in solid financial position.
Having served on the Normandy Park City Council since 2002 and now the current Mayor and Mayor four years previously, I have gained important experience in dealing with complex issues and resolution as well as, working well with fellow council members and other Mayors and council members. I've developed new friendships and alliances in communicating, cooperating, and coordinating with the cities of Burien, Sea-Tac, Des Moines, Tukwila, the Highline School District and, yes, even the Port of Seattle.

Being the Mayor and Councilmember is a lot of work. There are long hours, much reading, comprehension of tough issues and making tough decisions, yet we do it all for free. That's right, all our Council is volunteer, we receive no pay for our services. I like to think I do it because I can make a real difference for my community.

2. Balance. Balancing business, multi family and residential needs is a tough issue for any city. Fortunately adding more multi family or adding many more residences is not necessary for us; we are meeting our Growth Management Act requirements.

Successful businesses are necessary, however, and we are actively pursuing economic development strategies.

We are cognizant that some business redevelopment models explore attractive building designs with businesses on the ground floor and new residences above. We are not opposed to these concepts if it makes sense to our community, but finding the balance is the key.

We understand that in this economy a mix of good businesses are vital to a city's revenue stream. I think we all want businesses that encourage us to shop locally and we would gladly support them. That is why we are actively engaging our citizens to see what sort of businesses in what type of places makes sense to them. Finding the balance where we can all thrive is key. A place where business is supported by the community and the community is supported by business requires all of us: citizens, city, and business to do our part.

Todd McKittridge
1.Qualifications. I have been a business owner in Normandy Park for over 10 years, and have worked in many neighboring jurisdictions as well. This gives me a unique perspective to measure our city against others in the area. As an example, I watched how the mis-management of the First Avenue road construction crippled any business along First Avenue for far too long, and created legal liabilities with the contractor the City has still not resolved. I have had the opportunity to deal with most departments in the City over the past decade and even as the economy has changed, the City has not adjusted as well as the other cities I work in. The City has raised taxes and fees on residents and businesses, yet is still eating through its reserves at an alarming rate. A businessperson like myself can help turn our financial ship around.

2. Balance. The city has a good mix of residential and business uses that have grown over time in response to the demands of our residents. We like it this way. Also, I believe it is important to encourage business investment in Normandy Park . We have lost more businesses in the last few years than we have gained, taking from the city revenue that is sorely needed to pay for the services we have grown accustomed to. The city is desperate for new tax revenue, but its radical regulatory practices forces service and homebuilding businesses to choose the more friendly environments of neighboring cities. Rolling back the radical regulation of the last few years and limiting new government-created planning schemes will allow the existing business to prosper, encourage new business to relocate here, and that will bring in new revenue the city needs.

Normandy Park City Council Position 5

Charlie Harris
1. Qualifications. My qualifications to serve on the Normandy Park City Council are as follows. I enjoy serving my community. I graduated from the UW in Business Logistics. I served 20 years in the National Guard with 10 of those years on active duty in Germany and Vietnam where I commanded four companies. My wife Joti and I moved to Normandy Park with our two sons in 1977 and have lived here ever since.

The specific experiences that qualify me to serve are as CEO and President of two businesses with over 300 employees each, Chairmanship of a Health Care Cooperative, an International Committee of the SAE, the Normandy Park Planning Commission and serving on the City Council for nine years with two years as Mayor.

2. Balance. How to balance necessary revenue increases from retail businesses without harming the residential character of the city? 1st Avenue is our business core and is heavily used. Our two business centers on 1st Avenue can be made more successful without expanding their impact on nearby residences. One area that the city can improve is traffic flows. Most customers arrive by car and the traffic flows are difficult. A business must attract and keep customers. The city can help by improving both roads and sidewalks. We have to help landlords keep their stores rented to retail businesses that we want to frequent. Our residents would like to have local businesses that they are proud to use. We also need to improve the attractiveness of the centers so non-residents are inclined to stop and shop.

We are trying to encourage owners of our business centers to explore development with more retail and more multi-family housing. The city cannot be the developer. It can only encourage property owners by educating them about the possibilities.

Stacia Jenkins
1. Qualifications. As an active community member, busy professional and parent to two school age children, I am deeply appreciative of and committed to our quality of life in Normandy Park. We have an equally beautiful natural environment and diverse population of families, working adults, retirees, new and longtime residents, and all of them need to be represented by our city leadership. The City Council’s role is to effectively gather and consider the opinions and needs of all our residents to create intelligent city policies and programs that will maintain and improve our community standards for future generations. I am the candidate who can achieve that, and improve community relations, communications, decision-making and representation.

My qualifications for City Council are a demonstrated commitment to community volunteerism, professional experience in creating intelligent, equitable urban policy, productive, working relationships with regional municipal, County, Port and state officials, and my ability to conscientiously engage with all our residents’ and regional interests. I’ve been endorsed by State Representatives Orwall and Upthegrove, Burien/Normandy Park Firefighters, King County Labor Council, Washington Conservation Voters and the National Political Women’s Caucus of Washington.

2. Balance. The landscape of Normandy Park is dominated by single-family residences, so the challenge is not in adjusting the balance of homes, multi-family housing and businesses, but in maximizing the commercial potential to generate needed tax revenue, reduce the tax burden to homeowners, and to support business development that meets the needs of our community. With appropriate planning and policies, we can improve the access and attractiveness of our current commercial zones without disrupting the balance our community prefers.

I support improved commercial and multifamily housing development in Normandy Park, assisting existing new development to achieve full occupancy, and improvements to walking and biking routes and access to public transit. A thriving 1st Avenue district can reduce transportation to needed services, produce local businesses and employment, and increase the value of residential property. Done responsibly and conscientiously, this is possible without the destruction of homes or our community’s character and can greatly enhance the equity and quality of life in Normandy Park.

Normandy Park City Council Position 7

Susan West
1.Qualifications. I was born and raised in Normandy Park and attended Marvista, Pacific and Mount Rainier, so I understand the issues facing this community. Recently, I received a Master's Degree from George Washington University's School of Political Management in Strategic Public Relations. This degree focused on building transparency, accountability, and positive relationships between government agencies, activists, citizens, businesses and the media. This has provided me with the tools and skills to help our city government reach out to the community. In addition, as a former TV reporter, I have produced reports on city and county government issues, which has given me a strong understanding of how local government operates. Lastly, I am currently a Normandy Park Planning Commissioner.

2. Balance. Successfully balancing the mix of businesses, multi-family housing and single-family residents in Normandy Park requires full communication between the city and its citizens. This effort should be a partnership between both groups that is based on transparency, accountability, and a unified vision of Normandy Park's future.

Keeping Normandy Park's current character is key. That's what brings new people to Normandy Park and keeps generations of families living here.
Normandy Park currently has designated business areas that appear to hold great potential for economic growth and mixed use. Why not work with what we already have by bringing our business areas into the 21st century while maintaining Normandy Park's charm and keeping the neighborhood feel of Normandy Park in tact?

But it all starts with working together.