When my husband and I bought our house in Marysville 12 years ago, our intention was to stay about a year or two and then move on.  But happily, those plans never developed. We both come from smaller Washington cities and were drawn to the “small town” feel of Marysville.

I currently run a successful design business in Marysville and I have worked with many local companies, both as vendors and clients.  I enjoy the support that I have received from the city and its many offices.  From the Police Department to the Parks and Recreation Department — everyone I have interacted with has been helpful and proud to serve their community.  Unfortunately, the downward turn of our economy has forced Marysville to make cuts in services and staffing, but I feel like the current city staff is still working very hard to provide the level of service I’ve come to appreciate.

So it distresses me when I see that one of the Mayoral candidates, Kelly Wright, states on his website in regards to a city staffing review, “A top-to-bottom review will find those redundancies and help us eliminate them…”  I can only gather that by “redundancies” he means employees, and I can’t begin to imagine our city doing with even less.  While I appreciate Mr. Wright’s contract work in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan, to compare their third world governments and budget structures to Marysville is a little ridiculous.

I know Jon Nehring has only been in office for a short time, but I’ve seen him around town, in local businesses, even on my own street in one of the annexed neighborhoods.  Evidently the annexation issue was the reason Mr. Wright decided to run.  Funny, Kelly Wright read about Marysville’s annexation while 6,700 miles away.  Jon Nehring was right here in town actively participating in the process.

My vote for Mayor will go to Jon Nehring, giving him the opportunity to allow Marysville to grow — while keeping our friendly small town ways.

Jennifer Ward

Marysville