10 years ago 1998
Coming on the heels of two failed school bonds, Lakewood officials are hoping the standard maintenance an operations levy and transportation levy will both pass next week. The vote is by mail only, which could change the results a little officials hope it will bring in more votes. By Monday this week, 1,500 people had mailed in their ballots. A majority of the nearly $4 million maintenance and operations levy for Lakewood pays for books and salaries. Smaller portions pay for buildings and food service. Lakewoods tax rate is among the lowest in the county with a rate of $2.61 per $1,000 of assessed value, just a $0.30 increase above the current tax rate of $2.31 for the current levy. the commercial growth of Smokey Point has been a factor in keeping the tax rate low. As we are shifting from rural and residential to more commercial it helps, said Superintendent Wayne Robertson. School officials estimate the levy will bring a tax increase of $3.75 per month to the owner of a $150,000 home. The school bus levy will provide $191,000, split between 1999 and the year 2000, to purchase school buses in 1998. The tax rate for this levy is $0.12, bringing a tax increase per month of $1.50 for owners of a $150,000 home. If the levy passes we would purchase two buses with the levy funds, said Fred Owyen, director of support services for the district. We would purchase a third bus from mitigation fees from developments in the district. Lakewood needs the school buses to keep up with growth and to replace an old bus. Safety standards for school buses changed in 1977, and the district has one bus left from before 1977. This is the last one we need to retire, said Owyen. Additionally, district officials hope to surplus a 1977 bus that has become expensive to maintain, since its manufacturer is no longer in business. The Lakewood School District, with an enrollment of 2,200, projects growth of at least 4 percent for next year. The district witnessed tremendous growth last year of 9.6 percent, with completion of the Navy Housing Development in Smokey Point, Owyen said. Several portables were added to the elementary school and an addition to the school is under construction. If the maintenance and operations levy fails, the district would first cut transportation and co-curricular activities, then staff resulting in larger class sizes, Robertson said.

Its a good thing Dennis Byrnes is familiar with homework. The Jackson High School business and marketing teacher is going to be dealing with his share of the stuff in the next few months. Byrnes on Monday will take the oath of office as the city of Arlingtons newest councilman. The appointment was approved unanimously by the citys current six Council members Jan. 20. Byrnes left the meeting with lots of congratulations and a four-inch thick city budget document to read and thats just for starters. His appointment fills the seat left vacant with the sudden death of Larry Caldwell in December, who had just been re-elected to the post. Byrnes will serve for two years before being required to run for election for the remaining two years of the term if he decides he likes it. At this point, hes not sure how big that if is, he said. I have no preconceived notions, about the City Council job, he said. I have no axes to grind. I think I bring an objective point of view to the Council. I dont have a long history here. I dont know where the bones are buried. What he does have is a love of the city and a personal belief that it is important to be involved in the community. He believes in interagency cooperation and consolidating resources and he is interested in business and technology. Byrnes already has played a part in guiding the city into the future. He was appointed to the city planning commission in June. Its another job that has its share of required reading. Since he started serving on the commission, several large zoning code documents, such as parking, landscaping and design guidelines, have been reviewed. When Byrnes considered taking on the new job, his first move was to consult with his wife, he said. Thats usually a good idea if you want to stay married, he laughed. In this case, the consultation included concerns that taking the job would have an impact on her job as superintendent of the Arlington School District. Linda Byrnes said she cant imagine it would. What I said to him is its a City Council question. There may be times when he will need to excuse himself from the discussion, but thats true of all Council members. The appearance of fairness doctrine requires members of any quasi-judicial group, which includes city councils, planning commissions, school boards and even the park board, to declare connections with an issue being discussed or decided by the board. That could mean the Council member lives in the neighborhood being discussed or is employed by the owner of a property. City Planner John Burkholder said such declarations are made about once every other week on the City Council and planning commission. Usually what happens, he said, is the Council member will make the declaration and state whether he or she believes the connection will influence the decision. The head of the governing body then asks fellow members and the public if they have any objections to having the person continue to be be involved in the process. If there are objections, the council person or commission member will take the appropriate action. That can mean leaving the room or remaining, but not discussing or voting on the issue. Typically, Burkholder said, if the spouse of a Council member is connected to an issue, it wouldnt necessarily mean he would have to declare anything. You have to have a direct relationship. The key is if the decision could enhance your own position in some way.

25 years ago 1983
The city of Arlington and Bill Stipek of Bills Superette market go to court March 18 in a not-unexpected challenge to the citys new sidewalk ordinance. The ordinance, passed by the City Council last fall, restricts merchants commercial displays on public sidewalks to the first 30 inches from the building and requires merchants seeking to use the sidewalk for displays to get a city license. The ordinance also restricts such licensed sidewalk displays to certain sections of Olympic Avenue. Displays on sidewalks elsewhere in the city are banned. Stipek was issued a citation on Jan. 12 for failure to comply with the ordinance. He has asked for a jury trial on the misdemeanor issue. Stipek told The Times he will base his defense on his contention that the ordinance was passed principly to restrict his merchandising efforts. He had previously said that sidewalk displays were essential for the success of his business. At the end of last week the city had issued sidewalk display licenses to three Olympic Avenue businesses.
Once a month the line of people stretches from the side door of the Arlington Seventh Day Adventist Church out to the street and around in front of the small building on the corner of Burke and Talcott streets. The long line is both a sign of poor economic times and also a good indication of the depth of community involvement in Arlington. Outside in line the people wait patiently for the once-a-month distribution of government surplus cheese, butter and powdered milk, while inside the church volunteers donate long hours and hard work handing out the free commodities. Down the road at Island Crossing members of the Stillaguamish Tribe are also working hard giving out the same commodities to families in need only a small percentage of whom are tribal members. The in-town distribution by the Seventh Day Adventist Church serves about 340 families on the two days a month they are open. These families average about five members each, said Kathy Patrick, community services director for the church. Shirley Oman, community health representative for the Stillaguamish Tribe, said their food bank is open every Wednesday through Friday distributing both government surplus commodities and regular food bank donations. We distributed surplus cheese and butter to about 1,800 people in December, she said. Only about 100 were members of the tribe. Our tribal council made the decision last year to make our services available to anyone who needed help.

50 years ago 1958
The Fifth Annual Cub Scout breakfast was patronized by a hungry citizenry, as is testified by the cooks who prepared some 2,500 pancakes. The breakfasters consumed 145 pounds of pancake mix, 80 dozen eggs, 320 half pints of milk, 20 pounds of butter, 90 pounds of bacon, 12 pounds of coffee, 102 pints of syrup, 7 pints of half and half cream, and six pounds of cube sugar. The breakfast was held at the Methodist Church on Jan. 18 and according to reports about 800 people took advantage of it. Those who turned out the pancakes, bacon and eggs were chef Perry Edlund, donated by Krusteaz, and his assistant Lou Sodam as pancake flipper. Cooks were Marian Kirschenman, Pauline Cox, Arnold Burns, Lee Wittenbarger, and Fred and Gloria Nygard. Doris Burns and Clella Fowler were hostesses. Cashiers were Ruth and Harry Yost. Waitresses were Leila Steckelberg, Loretta Eoff, Maggie Engstrom, Alma Howe, Ruby Molsee, Charlotte Wellman, Elizabeth Thompson, Darleen Hammer, Sally Carlson, Mary Leach, Nadine Alskog, and extra appreciated help was Mrs. Stanley Boyer. Kitchen help included Lorena Sodam, Chet Thompson, Dorothy Carlson, Dale Steckelberg, Rev. John Mathone, Bud Valiant and Ann Williams. We hope we have not overlooked anyone.