SEQUIM –– City Councilman Ted Miller announced Tuesday he will seek re-election to a second term.
Miller, 67, a retired CIA analyst and attorney, was elected in 2009 after a campaign in which he criticized the pro-development policies of his opponent, former Mayor Walt Schubert.
Candidate filing week is May 13-17. The filing fee for the City Council is $18.
In the state’s top-two primary, the top-two vote-getters in the Aug. 6 primary will advance to the Nov. 5 general election.
City Council candidates must have been residents for at least a year as of Nov. 5.
Miller said Tuesday he plans to continue to seek policies to better manage growth.
“I think impact fees are a particularly useful tool for those big housing subdivisions that end up costing the city a lot more than it gets out of them,” Miller said.
Miller credited his platform of managed growth for his election in 2009.
“If it was just a contest between me and Walt, I don’t know that I would have got a single vote,” Miller said. “So I have to think people elected me because of my ideas.”
Impact fees and the city’s new sign ordinance have prompted discontent among many in the business community over recent months, Miller said.
“If it’s the law, it should be enforced,” he said.
“If you don’t like the law, you can always work with the council to try and have the law changed.”
Miller said he helped push forward plans for the long-considered new City Hall, which is slated for construction next year.
The current council, he said, has been more accountable to its constituents than prior councils.
“We’ve really opened up the city government,” Miller said. “Sometimes, that means folks feel more free to express their discontent, but that’s what we’re here for.”
Volunteers, seniors
If elected, Miller wants to promote opportunities for volunteerism, give more recognition to the city’s senior population and keep Sequim connected to its rural roots.
“I just want people to feel like they have a real ownership of the community, to think, ‘I own Sequim.’ I’m a taxpayer, and the taxpayers own the city,” he said.
Miller is seeking re-election to Position 4. Also up this year are seats now filled by Dennis Smith, who was appointed in October, and Genaveve Starr, appointed in January.
Miller is the only candidate to announce thus far.
The declaration of candidacy can be filed in person at the county elections office in the basement of the county courthouse, 223 E. Fourth St. in Port Angeles, between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. each day during filing week.
They also can be filed by printing out a declaration from http://tinyurl.com/bnvts7e and mailing it to the elections office at Clallam County Elections, 223 E. Fourth St., Suite 1, Port Angeles, WA 98362.
________
Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Joe Smillie can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, or at jsmillie@peninsuladailynews.com.
