Haistings, Springer to face off in 45th district
June 10, 2008
By Emily Keller
Springer will seek re-electionState
Representative Larry Springer has big plans for what he wants to accomplish if voters send him back to Olympia in November.
The democratic representative of the 45th district wants to help performing arts centers rent out their spaces more frequently without incurring additional taxes and establish infrastructure funds to help cities like Sammamish build more housing.Â
As a former elementary school teacher and the owner of a family run wine store in Kirkland, Springer is an advocate of smaller school class sizes and lower taxes for small business owners.
In the Washington legislature, Springer is the vice-chair of the Housing Committee, he also sits on the Appropriates Subcommittee on Education, the Select Committee on Puget Sound and the Transportation Committee.
One of the bills Springer plans to introduce in the next session would enable performing arts groups, museums and community groups such as the Lions Club to rent their facilities to for-profit organizations for up to around 30 days a year before triggering a property tax requirement that currently kicks in after 15 days.
Springer also plans to introduce a bill that would enable cities like Sammamish to borrow money for little or no interest to do infrastructure work that is needed to increase housing stock and provide more opportunities for people to work near their homes, which would help reduce congestion, he said.
Springer supports rebuilding the 520 bridge that runs over Lake Washington from Seattle to Bellevue with four general purpose lanes and two carpool lanes. He proposes to pay for it with $500,000 in Federal money from a 2005 gas tax, $1 billion from the state’s general fund and tolls that pay directly for work on the bridge.
“The key part is we have sufficient landing space on either end of the bridge to accommodate an additional capacity for high-capacity transit,” said Springer, who supports a plan for 116-120-foot landing spaces on both the east and west sides.
Springer said that although major projects like the bridge are requiring the most significant transportation investment now, he also hopes to help improve local roads.
“[State Route] 202 from Sahalee to Fall City needs help. [State Route] 203 from Fall City to Monroe needs state funding,” Springer said, noting that those projects are high on his priority list but will have to wait.
Springer has sponsored bills to increase funding for crumbling schools serving children in kindergarten through 12th grade and to allocate $15 million to create a transitional housing organization. He has also sponsored a bill to change condemnation policies for eminent domain to prohibit condemnation for economic development, require the condemning party to consider alternatives and giving the condemned property owner the right to buy the property back if it is sold within seven years.
Springer is the past president of the Suburban Cities Association and former mayor of Kirkland, where he spent 11 years on the City Council. He has served two terms as state representative for the 45th district, which includes parts of Sammamish north of Northeast 16th Street as well as Carnation, Duvall, Woodinville and parts of Kirkland, Redmond and the Upper Snoqualmie Valley.
Springer is a lifelong resident of East King County and a member of the Puget Sound Regional Council and the Kirkland Chamber of Commerce. He lives in Kirkland with his wife, Penny Sweet, and his stepson, Mark Evich.
Haistings announces candidacy
As a police officer and first responder for the past 23 years, Kevin Haistings says he has learned to solve problems and to compromise. Now, he intends to use those skills to represent the 45th district in the state House of Representatives.
Haistings, a lifelong Washington resident who lives in the Carnation area with his wife and two teenage sons, said he hopes to improve education, public safety and transportation if elected.
The 45th district, in addition to parts of Sammamish north of Northeast 16th Street, includes Carnation, Duvall, Woodinville and parts of Kirkland, Redmond and the Upper Snoqualmie Valley. Democrat Larry Springer currently holds the office.
Haistings, a 47-year-old Republican candidate who works as a sergeant with the Seattle Police Harbor Patrol, said he decided to run for office because he thinks state government needs to change its priorities to focus more on improving education, increasing road capacity and heightening public safety.
Haistings said he would sit down with public school teachers to discuss questions that he has about whether the Washington Assessment of Student Learning testing system is effective at improving education.
Haistings also said transportation should be improved to accommodate growth and encourage commerce and businesses to come to the Puget Sound region.
“I don’t think it’s as much about forcing people out of cars as fixing the overall transportation [system],” said Haistings, who thinks that adding lanes to overcrowded roadways is the most important way to reduce congestion.
Haistings said the state should expand the capacity of the 520 bridge that runs over Lake Washington from Seattle to Bellevue and should pay for the expansion through tolling and greater spending efficiency.
“It seems to be mind boggling the amount of money that seems to be earmarked for transportation but we don’t seem to be able to build any of our projects very well,” Haistings said.
However, Haistings only supports tolling the 520 bridge if the toll money directly funds work on that bridge.
“I think if you put a toll on a bridge it should be going into paying for that bridge, not the general fund,” said Haistings. “Some of the proposals that are out there I think look at penalizing people on the Eastside.”
In addition to working for the Harbor Patrol, Haistings is also vice president of the Washington State Law Enforcement Memorial Foundation and a past president of the Seattle Police Officers’ Guild. He has also been a Cub Scout leader, a volunteer firefighter and a volunteer with the Ronald McDonald House Holiday Cruise program.
Haistings said one of the strengths that he would bring to the Washington legislature is political debate and a diversity of opinions, being a Republican in a largely Democratic area.
“We’ve had so many people from one party. I don’t think we’ve had a lot of balance,” Haistings said. “I think that when you have a stronger or better balance you force people to have that debate or discussion.”
Reporter Emily Keller can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 242, or ekeller@isspress.com.
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Springer is always promising “big ideas” to get elected. As soon as he does, he forgets the progressives that helped him win twice now, and morphs back into being a toady for the Masterbuilders and Realtors. The only reason he runs as a Democrat is that what it takes to get elected in the 45th LD. I am not voting for him anymore, I am sitting this one out (but I sure as **** am not going to vote for any Republican like Haistings).