Michael Stevens is one of the more-effective members of the Marysville City Council. We see no reason to replace him in the Nov. 7 general election.
His challenger, Elijah Olson, did not show up for a candidate interview or return a questionnaire from the Marysville Globe, so it is hard to know how serious he is about the position.
Stevens has been on the board since 2010. His priorities are: Public safety, responsible growth, education, business and recreation. He wants Marysville to be a great place because he and his wife are raising their five kids here.
During his time on the council, it has worked to improve downtown and the waterfront. It also worked to form the Transportation Benefit District, which is keeping our streets from deteriorating.
Stevens deserves your vote.
Put Rosson in McClure’s seat
Marc Rosson is running against Lyanne Rolf for what was Bob McClure’s seat on the Arlington School Board.
From what we can tell, Rosson deserves your vote in the Nov. 7 general election.
Rolf may be a fine candidate. But it is hard to know because she did not show up for the Arlington Times’ candidate interview. And she did not return a questionnaire regarding her positions on different issues.
Those are not good signs for someone who wants to fill an elected public office.
But we think Rosson would do a great job anyway. He has been involved in schools for 20 years. As treasurer of the Arlington High School Booster Club he is involved with academics, arts, activities and athletic in the district. He also is advertising coordinator for the performing arts program.
His profession is a planner with a business and financial background. He says that experience is important because of the complicated state funding changes that are being made. He wants to involve the community more, citing how poorly it was communicated that Arlington teachers could strike on opening day. Rosson should be a great addition to the Arlington school board.
Try harder to keep administrators
Stability is very important in learning. Students need to know and trust their teachers and principals to learn. The kids need to know they will always be there for them.
That is what is disturbing about all the administrative changes the Marysville School District recently announced.
Marysville Getchell High School has gone through a lot of changes the past few years, and it continues this year, getting a new principal. Likewise, Marysville-Pilchuck gets a new principal, along with two new assistant principals. The other high schools also are getting a new principal.
New leaders also are coming to Totem and Marysville middle schools. New principals have the biggest impact in the grade schools. And the MSD will get three of them: at Liberty, Shoultes and Quil Ceda Tulalip. New assistant principals also are coming to Allen Creek, Sunnyside, Cascade, Kellogg Marsh and Pinewood.
In other words, there are only a few schools that went untouched when it comes to administrative changes. While we know people change jobs for a variety of reasons, losing that many people is discouraging. MSD needs to do everything it can to try to keep more of these leaders. Safety and stability are so important, and change can be tough, especially for kids. Let’s hang on to more of what we’ve got.
