News - Local News

POSTED: Thursday, Oct. 16, 2008

Ericksen, Flanders vie for House seat representing Bellingham

State Rep. Doug Ericksen has held the 42nd District, Position 1, seat since he first ran for office a decade ago. The Ferndale resident is the deputy Republican leader and sits on several committees, including the House Transportation Committee.

In the Nov. 4 election, he's defending his position against Mark Flanders, who was born and raised in Whatcom County. The Bellingham Democrat, a nine-year printer at Premier Graphics, is a musician, writer and boater, and he's on the board of directors for the Bellingham Independent Music Association.

The 42nd District encompasses the north half of Bellingham up to the Canadian border.

Both candidates were interviewed recently about key issues in Whatcom County and the state.

What more, if anything, can the state Legislature do to help protect Lake Whatcom's water quality?

Ericksen: He said he supported legislation that allows counties to transfer certain trust lands from state Department of Natural Resources management to the county for parks purposes. Whatcom County currently is considering accepting a transfer of more than 8,000 acres in the Lake Whatcom watershed for parks.

He supports the county's decision, but he doesn’t feel that logging necessarily harms water quality. "Some trees are meant for huggin', and some are meant for cuttin,'" he said. “We have to find a balance."

The state also is likely to get requests from local governments for money to help fix the lake's water-quality problems, and he’ll consider those, he said.

Flanders: The city of Bellingham and Whatcom County need to take the lead on protecting the lake, especially with regard to development issues, he said.

He doesn't see any big decisions by the Legislature to address the lake's issues, although there may be in the future.

Flanders called the possible transfer of the DNR's 8,000 acres to Whatcom County control a "golden opportunity."

How do you feel about changes to levels in state funding for K-12 education?

Flanders: "We need to fully fund schools," he said. "I think people need to look at it as a long-term investment in our economic vitality."

That said, we can't raise taxes, so the state will have to look to trim from other agencies to fund schools, he said.

"I'm not afraid to stick my neck out and cut some other stuff if we have to," he said. He also supports making state government more efficient to save money.

Ericksen: One way to provide immediate relief in busing costs would be to stop charging school dis-tricts a fuel tax, he said. Simply spending more money won’t improve education. The Legislature should focus on lifting mandates that force school districts to divert money out of the classroom.

He wants to replace the Washington Assessment of Student Learning with a test that provides results in a matter of days so it can be used as feedback for teachers.

Washington state is facing a $3.2 billion deficit in its next budget. How should we balance the budget?

Ericksen: Not by raising taxes, but by putting limits on spending, Ericksen said. He supported a constitutional limit to spending, which would have moved the state away from its "boom and bust" budgeting cycle, he said.

"You can't reduce taxes if you can't control spending," he said.

A scalpel approach is needed to control the rate of spending growth, he said.

Flanders: He wants to reduce costs by increasing government efficiency, making state employees partners in the process of streamlining. If you come in with a hammer, they won't tell you where the waste is and you'll end up making dumb decisions, he said.

"I think we can come up with a lot of efficiency if we try," he said. "You get the involvement and the engagement of the people who are doing the job."

He also wants to create incentives for departments that come in under budget. Also, the Legislature should look at eliminating some tax breaks, he said.

What issue(s) would you like to focus on if you win?

Flanders: His big interests include energy and transportation issues, especially reducing our dependence on oil, but the job to be done is working on the budget, and he can do it, he said. He described himself as a "rock-steady guy" when things begin to fall apart.

"I'm actually going down there to do a job," he said. "I prefer to take the toughest part first. I don't like to work around the edges."

Ericksen: He's backing legislation that would allow for the creation of public trails districts, which would get sales tax money to build trails for bikes and pedestrians between urban areas. The money could go only toward building them, not for planning, he said. Also, when a government builds a road and fills in wetlands, for example, it often must mitigate that by creating new wetlands somewhere else. He wants to allow them to instead buy development rights to protect agricultural lands.

ABOUT THE CANDIDATES

DOUG ERICKSEN

Age: 39

Family: Wife, Tasha; two daughters.

Education: Bachelor of arts in government from Cornell University; master of arts in political science and environmental policy from Western Washington University.

Employment experience: Former legislative affairs coordinator at the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, policy analyst for the Senate Republican Caucus, employee at Alaska Sightseeing/Cruise West in southeast Alaska, English instructor in Taiwan, litter supervisor for Whatcom County.

Political experience: Former campaign manager for Sen. Ann Anderson’s lieutenant governor bid; elected to state House in 1998; has served as vice chair of Transportation Committee; ranking Republican on House Transportation Committee; House GOP floor leader; House GOP deputy leader; member of Local Government, Natural Resources, Education, Finance and Energy committees; serves on Legislative Ethics, Joint Transportation committees; serves on Governor’s Climate Action Team; serves on Legislative Transpiration Committee.

Campaign Web site: www.dougericksen.com

Campaign contributions: $118,849

Expenditures: $92,507

Major endorsements: Washington Farm Bureau, Association of Washington Business, SEIU Local No. 775, Washington Council of Firefighters, Washington Council of Police and Sheriffs, National Federation of Independent Businesses, Affordable Housing Council, Washington Dairy Federation, Washington Health Care Association, Software Alliance, Conoco Phillips Refinery, BP Cherry Point Refinery, National Rifle Association, Washington Association of Realtors, Human Life of Washington.

MARK FLANDERS

Age: 49

Family: Wife, Audrey Tsui-Flanders, no children.

Education: GED and technical certifications at Whatcom Community College.

Employment experience: Nine-year printer at Premier Graphics, in management and production of graphic arts for 25 years.

Experience: Board of directors member for Bellingham Independent Music Association.

Campaign Web site: www.markflanders.us.

Campaign contributions: $11,541.

Expenditures: $11,027.

Major endorsements: State Rep. Kelli Linville, state Sen. Harriet Spanel, Whatcom County Council Chairman Carl Weimer, Bellingham Mayor Dan Pike, former Bellingham mayors Tim Douglas and Mark Asmundson, former state Rep. Barney Goltz, Washington Education Association PAC, Public School Employees union.