Candidate Profile: Terry Carter For Bonney Lake City Council

BONNEY LAKE, WA — For the November General Election, Pierce County's 555,000 registered voters will be asked to weigh in on dozens of high-profile elections, including mayoral races in Tacoma, Eatonville, Buckley, and Bonney Lake. Nearly a dozen cities from Puyallup to Lakewood are holding city council elections, and six school districts will also have candidates on the ballot.

To help readers make informed choices, Patch asked candidates to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles as election day draws near.

Terry Carter is running for re-election for Bonney Lake City Council Position 6

Age (as of Election Day)

47

Position Sought

Bonney Lake City Council Position 6

Party Affiliation

Republican

Family

I've been married for 25 years to my wife Elizabeth, who is on the board and serves at the Bonney Lake Food Bank (The Market). We have two children, Julia and Jack. Julia is attending college at the University of Idaho and has done competitive cheerleading for most of her life. Jack is a Senior at White River High School and is currently working on his Eagle project in Scouts

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

No

Education

I graduated from Hazen High School in Renton, WA. I attended a year of college at Bellevue College.

Occupation

I am an Army veteran (1992-2000). I have served as a police officer for 20 years (2000-present). I've worked on the SWAT Team as a Crisis/Hostage Negotiator, I've been an instructor in Less Lethal tools and techniques, a Field Training Officer and Emergency Driving and PIT Instructor. I have been a Detective for the past 5 years serving on the King County Major Crimes Task Force and the FBI Child Abduction Response Team.

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office

I am just completing my first term as a City Councilmember. I was elected in 2017. I was asked to run by police officers and staff at Bonney Lake. I was elected by my fellow councilmembers to sit as the Chair of the Public Safety Committee. I gained a seat on the Finance Committee and I sit as the back up for the Deputy Mayor on the Pierce County Regional Council.

Campaign website

votecarterforcouncil.com

Why are you seeking elective office?

I care about the City of Bonney Lake. I believe we all owe something to our community. I have a vision for the city that it changes from a city of strip malls on SR 410 to a city with a clear identity. One of my passions is a change to Allen Yorke Park. The city has long outgrown the usefulness of the current design with roads through the park between the Snack Shack and the beach (just a matter of time before a child is hit and killed) and the location of the boat launch causing traffic delays. The park needs to be reconfigured for ease of use. The fields should be built at Mid-Town Park, behind the Regal Cinema. This would eliminate the cross traffic of those using the beach and boat launch and those using the fields for sports in an already overcrowded park. I want the city to make smart decisions with tax payer money. Maintenance and capitol projects for water and sewer need to be completed, using ARPA Grant funds, in an effort to bring the system up to date and relieve the rate payers of the high water/sewer bills. The city is moving forward with changing from a meter reading every two months to meters being read once per month, which will be an easier bill for a family to budget for and not see high water bills from two months of service.

The single most pressing issue facing our (board, district, etc.) is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

Water and Sewer rates are the most pressing issue at this time. When I was elected I had a huge learning curve to figure out all the issues with our water and sewer system. Several mistakes from previous councils (past council decisions) and the city attempting to be cheap, created several of the issues. When I came on the council, the Department of Health was threatening to take over the water system and raise the rates in order to pay for the neglected maintenance that had occurred over the past decade. I want to prioritize the ARPA Grant funds the city is receiving to work on capitol projects that would save the rate payers (citizens) the cost of doing that ourselves. This would help the water/sewer system and the rate payers, not just now but in the future.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

The other candidate told me he was only running against me because he doesn't believe anyone should run unopposed. I have an actual vision for the city and have built up trust with other councilmembers and city officials to actually work toward those goals.

How do you think local officials performed in responding to the coronavirus? What if anything would you have done differently?

I think it was handled about as well as could have been expected with the mandates that were in place. I did not like the fact that we were not allowed to meet in person and were 100% online. I wanted more citizen interaction. I pushed to get us back to meeting in person as quickly as possible. I've also checked into potential plans to meet at Allen Yorke Park (outside) if we were not allowed to meet in person inside again. I think it is important and people should be allowed to see and understand what's happening in their government. Citizens need the ability to speak face to face with councilmembers.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

Managing growth in the city is key. The city is going to continue to grow. How we manage the growth is our job. There has been so much growth outside the city that impacts traffic, shopping, time, etc. We need a larger say in what is happening around us.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I have already earned my Certificate of Municipal Leadership. I have some key insight because I've worked for several cities (including Bonney Lake) before. I know the personalities involved. I understand the position and the fact I am just one vote out of seven. I can not do anything on my own. I have built relationships with the other councilmembers and staff. That relationship building takes time and builds trust.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

The city attorney does not work for the council, they work for the Mayor. Get your legal advice from MRSC (Municipal Research & Services Center).

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

I used to work in Bonney Lake as a police officer. I am very familiar with the city and the way it has done business in the past. Some of this is not positive, some of it is. I want the city to treat everyone fairly. I have been pleased with some of the changes in city staff. It is important to have a process in place to hire the best people for the job and not use the "good old boy" system to promote. While I am a fan of promoting from within when possible, we should be looking to get the best person for the job. I am a conservative and I want to the city to be fiscally conservative. I want to the city to work efficiently without a lot of waste.

I worked to stop a Roundabout on SR 410 and 214th Ave E. The city wanted to push this project through even though no other Roundabouts have been built to this scale for the amount of traffic currently using that intersection. I went as far as traveling to Spokane and other cities to see other Roundabouts that were purported to be similar. What I found was they were not similar and caused some of the exact safety concerns I had brought forward. I am not against Roundabouts but I am against being the first city to create one with that much traffic on a State Route with the amount of cross traffic it has when it would be the largest in the state. I would rather let someone else build it and show that it works before we spend money and find out it does not work.

Thank you for your time and I would be honored to have earned your vote.