Snoqualmie challenger has experience with council
June 25, 2009
By Michael Rowe
The challenger in Snoqualmie’s only contested City Council race was a familiar face on the Council a decade ago.
Terry Sorenson was appointed to the Council in 1989 to fill an unexpired term on what was then a five-seat governing body. He was elected for a second term on the council and served until 1995.
Now, he’s running again.
“I miss making a difference on a local level,” Sorenson said.
Sorenson lives less than a block away from the new City Hall in downtown Snoqualmie on Maple Street. He is a 1982 graduate of Mt. Si Hi School, and has lived in Snoqualmie since 1987. Prior to being appointed to the City Council, he served as a planning commissioner.
Sorenson has an associate’s degree in business from Bellevue, and has been a federal employee for 22 years.
For Sorenson, the fiscal management of Snoqualmie is a priority. He said that the city has relied on revenues from new housing for years, but that revenue has a finite time limit. When the Snoqualmie Ridge development is built out, the city will see its strongest revenue stream dry up.
Sorenson said that Snoqualmie is still a small city in comparison to its neighbors to the East and its plans to build a community center with a pool might not provide much benefit to its residents for the cost. He noted that the Si View Metro Parks District in North Bend maintains a pool that Snoqualmie residents can use.
He asks whether the YMCA, which is in talks with the city to operate and maintain the community center, will still want to be the city’s partner in five years.
“What happens if the YMCA isn’t there?” Sorenson asked.
He doesn’t dispute the need for a facility like the proposed community center, but questions if it should have bells and whistles like a pool that might cost more to the city in the future when money may be tighter.
He said that if cuts were made to city programs and services, he would like for Snoqualmie to maintain its level of police and fire services. He doesn’t think that Snoqualmie should do away with its own police force and contract with the county, because he feels that Sheriff’s deputies would be less responsive to providing law enforcement for the city.
He praised the proactive policing done by Snoqualmie’s police department, and thinks that the city should support their work.
Sorenson said that he could work well with other members of the Council, if elected. He said that he was not running against opponent Maria Henriksen out of any disagreement he has with her or decisions she’s made on the Council.
Another reason that Sorenson is running for the Council is that its meetings will be held down the street from his house when the new City Hall opens this fall. He would like to introduce his two daughters, ages 8 and 9, to community service, and he can imagine walking down the street with them to the council meetings.
He said that he was surprised that no one else is challenging the incumbents on Snoqualmie’s City Council. Another race became uncontested after challenger Cindy Deibler withdrew her name from the election.
“So many people complain about how things are going, but you can’t change it unless you jump in and do it,” Sorenson said.
Sorenson is looking for input from the public on what issues are important to Snoqualmie residents. He has a Web site and blog at www.terrysorenson.com.
Reach reporter Michael Bayless Rowe at mrowe@snovalleystar.com or 392-6434, ext. 248.
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