Candidates seek seats 4, 5 on Moses Lake City Council

Editor’s note: The Herald provided coverage of the election for Position 1 and Position 2 on Monday.

POSITION 4

Mark Fancher and Plasido Lindsey Jr. are vying for Moses Lake City Council Position 4.

The seat is currently held by Darryl Jackson, who decided not to seek another term.

Lindsey did not respond to requests for an interview.

Growing up in Moses Lake, Fancher said many of his classmates wanted nothing more than to get away due to a lack of opportunities in the area.

That’s a big part of why Fancher is running for city council.

“I don’t want my grandkids to go through the Moses Lake school system and feel there’s nothing to offer,” he said.

A former president of the Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce, Fancher has been in the real estate business for 26 years.

“Quality of life is a critical component of good growth,” he said.

It’s an element closely tied to wages. The median household income in Grant County is around $55,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

“It’s difficult to buy any sort of house with that income,” Fancher said.

While the city council doesn’t have the power to raise wages, he said, it can support policies that make Moses Lake more attractive to businesses and industries that pay higher wages.

Streamlining permit processes could be one way to draw industry to the area, he said.

“We don’t have the ability to expedite everything, but we don’t ever want to be the one who’s standing in the way,” Fancher said.

With housing in short supply, expediting permit processes for certain types of construction could also provide some relief, he said.

With jobs, come employees, he noted — employees who need housing, as well as additional infrastructure, from roads to utilities to first responders.

“We have great things we can build on here,” he said.

POSITION 5

Incumbent David Curnel faces challenger Judy Madewell for Position 5.

“A city that isn’t growing is a dead city,” Curnel said. “We want to grow, but we have to grow in a controlled manner.”

For Curnel, who has served on the city council since 2010, that means focusing on filling available lots within city limits before spreading farther. Increasing urban sprawl puts a strain on existing resources.

He pointed to increasing response times for fire crews as an example.

Longer response times don’t just affect public safety. They can also affect insurance rates for homeowners and businesses.

“All things are a domino effect of trying to expand when you don’t have the services in place,” he said.

Securing and managing resources for the city is essential, he said — particularly water.

“We’re getting really short of water,” Curnel said.

To that end, he said the city council has given permission to Moses Lake City Manager Allison Williams to purchase any water rights that become available and get formal approval later.

“It’s that critical,” he said.

Curnel said Moses Lake needs a variety of housing to accommodate its population, including apartments, condos and single-family homes.

With Grant County’s median household income being among the lowest in Washington, making housing affordable is also a priority.

“We need housing that people other than those with the highest-paying jobs can afford,” he said.

Challenger Judy Madewell said she’s watched her hometown of Moses Lake grow into what it is today — a bigger, more populated city that’s still a great place to raise a family.

“Moses Lake is home,” she said. “I love to watch it grow. I love meeting new people who are moving into the neighborhoods. It’s exciting.”

A retired school employee, Madewell served on the state board of directors for the Public School Employees of Washington union.

Chief among her concerns is providing the services locals need, as well as attracting visitors to the community. This includes drawing more retailers to Moses Lake.

“They encourage us to shop at home, but there isn’t enough to keep people here,” she said. “We’re blessed with industry, but we need more retail.”

One of Madewell’s top priorities would be a second lake crossing. With Moses Lake’s population expected to grow exponentially in the coming years, she said it’s essential.

“I can’t imagine 56,000 people trying to cross,” she said. “It’s mind-boggling.”

Madewell said she’s not in favor of shrinking the Urban Growth Area around the city that could be used to build new housing.

“We have to make sure … we don’t make it so small that we can’t grow when we need to,” she said. “Once we have let go of the Urban Growth Area, it would be hard to get it back.”

“We have to be wise,” she added. “We have to make sure in our Urban Growth Area that we don’t make it so small that we can’t grow when we need to.”

Madewell said she’s also focused on providing services to the city’s unhoused population.

“Even though they’re struggling, they’re still important people,” she said.

(This article has been corrected to show that Judy Madewell is a retired school employee, not a retired teacher.)