ARLINGTON — After the May 18 City Council meeting, Craig Christianson walked outside and stared down the length of Olympic Avenue.

“When you walk down Main Street, you shouldn’t see so many empty storefronts,” said Christianson, who’s running against incumbent mayor Barbara Tolbert. “I don’t like the direction things are headed in, and I’m not alone. A lot of people who have lived here for a long time feel the same way.”

Craig is the son of former Arlington mayor Howard Christianson. On April 1, his 58th birthday, he retired from more than 20 years as a firefighter.

In 2011, the younger Christianson not only ran for mayor after Margaret Larson stepped down, but also applied for the council seat left vacant by Scott Solla’s death.

“I wasn’t ready before, but now that I’m retired, I’ve got more time,” Christanson said.

Even when he was serving as a firefighter in Seattle, Christianson identified Arlington as his hometown. In the wake of last year’s Oso slide, he even served as an unofficial liaison between locals and other Seattle firefighters. He expressed concerns over rising property tax rates and new sales taxes, as well as the Federal Aviation Administration’s ongoing investigation of the Arlington Municipal Airport.

“We haven’t heard the last of that,” said Christianson, who would prefer to see the airport run by publicly elected officials, and the city run by a council and city manager. “I say we get rid of the dictatorship of a strong mayor system and give the people more opportunities to decide these things.”