Strickland takes election for mayor

Photo by john larson

VICTORIOUS. Leonard Haggarty, left and his brother Teddy Haggarty with Marilyn Strickland during her election night rally.

A week after the election, City Councilmember Marilyn Strickland pulled far enough ahead of Jim Merritt to become Tacoma’s next mayor. While results are not officially certified yet, as of Nov. 10 Strickland had 19,623 votes to 18,535 for Merritt, giving her 51.2 percent of the vote. Strickland said Merritt called her that day to congratulate her for winning.

She said she is fairly knowledgeable of the mayor’s responsibilities from spending the past two years on the council learning from current Mayor Bill Baarsma, who will leave office due to term limits at the end of the year.

“I am up for it and excited about it,” she said. In regard to increased number of public appearances she will be expected to make, she plans to share some of this with other council members.

Baarsma assembled a transition team upon winning his election in November 2001. Strickland said she is considering a similar effort.

Being on the campaign trail for the past eight months has given her a good idea of what citizens expect from city government. Strickland is now putting together the agenda for the four-year term that begins on Jan. 1.

Education plays an important role in it. She looks forward to the development of Tacoma 360. The new entity is assembling its advisory board and searching for an executive director.

Race to the Top, an initiative of the administration of President Barack Obama, has federal funds available to cities around the nation for new approaches to education. She wants Tacoma to land its share of this money.

Education will be closely tied to creating jobs, she said. “While I have been tagged as the education candidate, it really is about economic development. It comes down to jobs. We need workers here who are trained and qualified for the jobs of the future.”

With Tacoma facing double-digit unemployment, Strickland wants to put people to work as soon as possible. The extension of Sound Transit’s Sounder commuter rail will put about 300 people to work in construction jobs soon after she takes office. This and a few other major projects have been in a holding pattern, but that will change soon.

“We need to move forward and put people to work.”

She wants to address the city’s share of the business and occupation tax, which has long drawn criticism from some business leaders in Tacoma. However, it does account for 25 percent of the city’s general fund, or about $110 million in each two-year budget cycle, so eliminating it entirely is not realistic, she said.

“Is there a way to reduce it? We in city government need to reach out to the business community and find solutions,” Strickland said.

Strickland said she shares messages on Facebook with Karen Vialle, the city’s only other woman mayor, who was elected 20 years ago. Former Councilmembers Delores Silas and Bill Moss are two other people she looks up to. “I will definitely be seeking their advice and guidance as I take on this responsibility.”

Former mayors Brian Ebersole and Harold Moss are strong supporters of Strickland. She will seek input from them. She also knows Mike Crowley, who served as mayor in an interim capacity for a year between Ebersole and Baarsma. She has discussed business issues with him in the past and sees him as another person she can seek advice from.

Strickland cannot point to one specific reason for her victory. She feels her mailers had an impact. She waited until shortly before the election to buy newspaper advertisements, running them large and in full color. She and her supporters rang 20,000 doorbells across the city. “We went to every single neighborhood. We ran a good campaign from top to bottom.”

Merritt, a well-known architect, was a strong opponent in the race, she noted. “When we entered this race we knew it would be competitive. We knew we had to work hard.”

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