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<< Previous   of   Next >> (click to enlarge) Terry Ryan and Mary Kay Voss (click to enlarge) Vincent Cavaleri and Kathy Nielsen   ADVERTISEMENT   Mill Creek City Council candidates Position 1 MARY KAY VOSS Age: 60 Occupation: Business owner TERRY RYAN Age: 47 Occupation: Commercial real estate broker Position 3 KATHY NIELSEN Age: 58 Occupation: Marketing account executive VINCENT CAVALERI Age: 44 Occupation: Sheriff's deputy Position 4 BART (TIM) MASTERSON Age: 72 Occupation: Retired business executive KEN BENDER Age: N/A Occupation: N/A   Related Stories • Dana nibbles into Somers’ lead 11/7/09 • Colorado ski town legalizes pot 11/3/09 • McDonnell wins Virginia governorship for GOP 11/3/09 • Republican Christie captures N.J. governor’s race 11/3/09 • Democrat wins House seat in heavily GOP area of N.Y. 11/3/09 • Maine voters repeal gay-marriage law 11/3/09 » More ELECTION2009 stories >   CONTACT THE HERALD Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com   Published: Tuesday, October 27, 2009 Lively Mill Creek candidates disupte opponents' positions By Oscar Halpert Herald Writer MILL CREEK — Two political veterans are challenging each other, and a former councilwoman has thrown her hat into the ring in three contested races for seats on the seven-member City Council. Councilwoman Mary Kay Voss is giving up her seat to take on longtime Councilman Terry Ryan, who has been elected mayor by fellow council members four times. Mill Creek has always been governed by the council-manager form of government in which a salaried city manager oversees the city's day-to-day business, reporting to the council. Every two years, the council elects one of its own to serve as mayor. State records show Ryan and Voss have raised nearly the same amount of money — some $15,600 between them — while none of the other candidates has reported raising any money. Among the big issues in this city of 17,770 is whether to build a new senior center within city limits or at nearby McCollum Park, and the future of a proposed residential and retail plan on land east of the Town Center. Challengers for the other three seats include incumbent Donna Michelson, who's unopposed; former Mayor Kathy Nielsen and her opponent, Snohomish County sheriff's deputy Vincent Caveleri; and Bart (Tim) Masterson and Ken Bender. Council members are paid $6,000 a year and the mayor earns $8,400 annually. Ballots are due Nov. 3 for the mail-in election. Position 1 Ryan has served on the council since 1996. Since then, he's been elected mayor by fellow council members four times. Voss is critical of Ryan's tenure on the council, arguing that he's used his position as council leader to push his own agenda at the expense of seeking consensus. “He has irritated and upset a lot of council members,” Voss said. “I will say it. I will say to him, ‘You're being rude.' ” Ryan said Voss' criticism is nothing more than sour grapes. “What's really happened is Mary Kay's run for mayor twice and mayor pro tem twice and lost,” Ryan said. “I think she's very frustrated.” The two have disagreed sharply on how to solve the politically thorny issue of coming up with a new senior center. Ryan has favored a regional approach that could include creation of a special taxing district to help pay for a new center at the county's McCollum Park, location of the city's former senior center. A majority of the council asked city staff this year to discuss that option further with the county. In the meantime, the council agreed to provide seniors with interim office space next to City Hall. That, however, is a short-term solution. For the long-term, Voss wants a new senior center in Mill Creek and said Ryan essentially refused to consider an option that could provide space for a new center on land owned by the Mill Creek Community Association, the city's largest homeowners association. Voss' husband, Didrick Voss, is a member of its board of directors. Ryan said a majority of council members have opposed that option and said Voss has “lost her objectivity” because of her connection to the community association. Voss' campaign Web site is www.reelectmarykayvoss.com. Ryan's campaign Web site is www.reelectterryryan.com. Position 3 This race pits Cavaleri, a deputy who is assigned to the county's jail, against Kathy Nielsen, who served on the council from 1990 to 1998, with the last two years as mayor. Nielsen, who participated in the formation of the city in 1983, helped create the Parks and Recreation Board. She's served on the Civic Service Commission for 11 years and recently served on the senior center advisory board, an experience she said motivated her to seek a council seat. “I was somewhat frustrated and disappointed in the process,” she said. “I felt like we didn't get real clear guidance from the council about what the intent of that advisory group was. What I was seeing was a very dysfunctional council and it concerned me.” Cavaleri said his experience as a police union negotiator makes him uniquely qualified to help people work through differences. “I can certainly help opposing sides reach common ground,” he said. He said he's heavily involved with his church and spends a lot of his time with church groups raising money for charities and feeding the homeless. “Those are the kinds of committees I prefer to belong to,” Cavaleri said. Position 4 Bart (Tim) Masterson, a retired food industry executive, faces newcomer Ken Bender for the seat vacated by Voss. Bender did not respond to repeated requests from The Herald for an interview. In a July interview with the Mill Creek Enterprise, Bender said he'd been involved in political campaigns in New York and has lived in Mill Creek since 2007. He said then that the city should pay more attention to its businesses. Masterson said he's entered the race because his term on the board of the Mill Creek Community Association is ending. He has served on the Park and Recreation Commission. “I've kind of paid my dues and I'm a civic kind of a guy,” he said of his decision to seek public office. Masterson said he's disagreed with policy decisions the council has made. For example, the council should have annexed more land with businesses that contribute sales tax income to the city instead of annexing largely residential areas. “So now we have lots of apartments that don't generate revenue and virtually no commercial (land),” he said. Oscar Halpert: 425-339-3429, ohalpert@heraldnet.com. 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