Forum at Furford: Aberdeen candidates speak out part II

"My one word description of myself - Thinker." ~ Jack Micheau

Last issue we took a look at the current Aberdeen Mayoral candidates, Jack Micheau and Erik Larson, and their participation at an open forum answering questions from the attending public. We continue this week with the conclusion of the Forum at Furford.

After answering questions on the Historic Seaport, the Port of Grays Harbor, the Pontoon Project and Homelessness the audience wanted to know more about the candidates' views on the future of Aberdeen:

Question: I would like to know from the both of you, what your feelings are about moving forward and protecting the historical buildings that we have, and putting some design criteria for the city.

Micheau - "Let me start by saying, I do not know how many old timers are here, but when I was on the council the Finch Building came down...because I pushed it...let me explain," Micheau continued with the "facts of the matter" during that time the Finch building was awarded to a single contractor for restoration who found himself in the middle of a fire that eventually brought the building down.

"I spoke to an inspector onsite who noted that the building came down fairly easily. It was due to the fact that the entire building was rotten."

It was the dire reality that the fire was possibly the best thing to happen to the Finch building as it was one of those buildings in Aberdeen that was too far gone.

"The proper testing was not done prior to the award to the contractor. It simply played out that way," noted Micheau speaking of the following demolition that brought the building down.

Micheau stated that he is a history buff and was part of the group that shut down and re-opened the Aberdeen Museum of History to get it to the point that it is today and feels that there are some buildings in downtown Aberdeen that could be saved...if someone comes up with the money.

"The Morck, the Electric building and the Book Carnival are a couple of examples," said Micheau, "but those buildings have not been tested for structural integrity." He continued to say that even with the uniqueness of many buildings in Aberdeen some of them are "too far gone to be saved". He mentioned that there may be some historic money available and some city money may also be used for future restorations, but..."Aberdeen has a unique mix (of buildings) and we have waited too long...and what can be saved we do not have the money for. We will need to seek help from someone with deep pockets."

Larson - "I think that we can all agree that there are some key historical buildings that we could save. The Morck, the Electric Building, the Becker Building and a few others, and I agree with Jack, almost every building in town is structurally deficient. And structurally deficient is different than dangerous, it means that you could not build it like they are today and be up to code."

Larson continued with the work that needed to be done with asbestos removal, structural issues and that any effort would basically be creating a new building from the inside out and the expensive cost associated to that type of remediation.

"The big problem is that we have an insolvent property problem downtown."

The issue Larson claims is that it is too expensive for property owners to invest in cost of revitalizing a building, as they will be unable to recoup their investment due to current property values.

"The situation is that we are faced with two options...We wait for property values to come up or find resources and money to rebuild and then find high-end tenants, or any tenants, to occupy the buildings. If we are going to get investments we need to have something people think they can get a return on their investment - and how are we going to do that with our current issues."

Q - You have both expressed your concern for a lack of leadership...What is it that makes you able to go out there and rally folks around some creative new ideas and make things happen?

L - "The biggest thing that I have tried to do is have good relationships with the city council that will be there should I make the office, have good relationships with the people at city hall, meet with them and explain to them exactly what I want to see done, and start planning. If I am elected this is where I want to go, and how are you going to make that happen and how will we make that happen together."

Larson said that he would listen to the ideas of staffers, not just the elected officials understanding that the staffers are the professionals in their field. Understating that they may have had ideas in the past but were unable to get them through.

"One of the biggest complaints that I have heard from city hall, the actual staff and not the administration, is that they (administration) give us something to work on and we get it done and they don't want to work on that anymore."

Larson said that in his conversations with city staffers there has been a growing concern that they are not heard, that ideas that come from the staff are ignored, and that is maybe where we should go back to seek some of those bottom up ideas.

"It hurts moral," said Larson.

Larson spoke about having a shared long-term vision with focus that would be a means to an end.

"Right now the city does have a six point action plan - and that was something that was decided four years ago and one of those (projects) was the lane re-stripping project. But the problem was that the projects started to become an exclusive members only club," remarked Larson. He spoke of opening up the conversation again to the public to get the public involved.

"The public needs to believe that city hall is working in their best interest and not on their own agenda."

M - "The short answer to "how", is knowledge and experience," responded Micheau, "I have been there and actually accomplished a number of projects that have made a difference around town. And for some reason no one in this campaign cares to acknowledge."

Micheau recapped a few of the projects like the Aberdeen Historical Museum, when he was pulled aside and made president of the friends of the museum given the charge to rebuild the museum. The Bond reallocation vote, that built the southside dikes and with the money saved, it was spent over five projects. Those projects included the teardown of the Finch Building, remolding the library, the skate park in south Aberdeen, sidewalks by the junior high (which had none at the time), and a storm water action plan due to the prison and not having capacity, and needed a plan to fix that. Micheau also noted that during this time there was some disconnection between the committees looking at several projects, that he was able to pull people together and refocus their efforts and get the five projects approved. Micheau also was a part of the Historical Seaport and getting them through the darkest hours.

"I can get people together and get things done, and that would be one of the first priorities should I be elected within the first 90 days. Erik is right there is a six-point plan but only a very few people can tell you what is on it. If you want an action plan to work you need community buy in, where we need to go and how we need to get there."

Q - The final question from the audience had to deal with infrastructure...Do you know what is under the Weyerhaeuser property that they had and gave to the seaport?

After further clarification from the audience member as they stopped both candidates during their responses here is the jest of their responses:

L- There is about five feet of soil that needs to be dealt with and some repairs to building 8. There have been a lot of chemical contaminates from being a sorting yard. The biggest need is capitol for their master plan.

M - The site has been a mill site for close to 100 years...wood waste, leeches, but it can be dealt with, and of course there are various oils and whatnot associated with running machinery and there are pockets that will need to be cleaned up. But it is relatively minor for what it could be. The issues will have to be addressed before any significant construction can go forward.

Closing the Forum at Furford the candidates were asked to give one word that best described them:
Erik Larson - "Optimistic."
Jack Micheau - "Thinker."