As ballots drop this week, voters will find that a majority of the Port Townsend City Council is running unopposed. Mayor David Faber and Deputy Mayor Amy Howard, first elected in 2015, are unchallenged for a third term. Owen Rowe and Monica MickHager, both first elected in 2019 are now seeking second terms.

“This year I want to talk about the Comprehensive Plan, an update to urban density rules, land use rules, and the future of affordable housing,” Faber said. “It’s harder to talk about these issues in public if there is no challenger.”

“If no one is running you don’t have the public discussion that you need,” said former mayor and council member Michelle Sandoval. “You don’t get your questions answered.”

As there are no challenged races there are no scheduled candidate forums, preventing office seekers from presenting their governance plans.

“This is frankly shocking to me,” Faber said. “I expected that someone would make a Quixotic run to make points about certain issues.”

Public servants would like to believe that a lack of opposition indicates a degree of approval.

“One interpretation is that people are satisfied with the city’s political direction,” said Port Townsend City Manager John Mauro. “The optimistic view is that we are doing an acceptable job.”

Faber and Sandoval agree with Mauro, pointing to overall voter satisfaction as reasons for a lack of challenges. But all three acknowledge that it is not that simple.

“Working in the public sector across the country has not gotten easier or less contentious,” Mauro said. “The divisiveness permeates down to the local level, which doesn’t make it a thrilling opportunity for a lot of people.”

“It bothers me that people don’t have a choice,” said Tyler Vega, who ran unsuccessful council campaigns in 2019 and 2021. “If there is no choice people don’t pay attention during election season.”

Vega, who lost both elections with lopsided margins, said he chose not to run this year because elections are a drain on his finances and his family—a common situation for working people who need a steady income.  

Council members earn $700 per month with the mayor receiving $1,025 (a slight increase is scheduled for January). Travel expense reimbursement is also available. But campaign expenses and time off during an election are the candidate’s responsibility.

“It takes some juggling,” Sandoval said about service on the council. “There is a steep learning curve, a lot of reading, and many meetings. It’s quite difficult for someone who does not own their own business or has a lot of job flexibility.”

Social networking is also a minefield, according to Sandoval. The unfettered flow of information is a good way to take the public pulse, except that this information is too often incorrect. Sandoval at times has been accused of being a predatory capitalist (she owns her own real estate firm) and a Commie Pinko intent on destroying the status quo. There is no effective way to counter these claims as people believe what they want.

“Council Members get threats on their lives,” Sandoval said. “We get these ridiculous letters and ridiculous accusations. I hear about things that people say about me in bars, which is shocking, but when I see it on Facebook it’s completely nonsensical.”

So people observing the online criticism leveled at Sandoval and other officials may opt out of running.

“I’ve learned to ignore the vitriol, insults, and threats regularly lobbed at the council,” Rowe said. “They’re just garbage, never accompanied by any sort of reasonable policy suggestions.

“But what I don’t understand is when people who do have good ideas decide that they can only win if we lose, or that they need to yell at us to get us to listen. I’m in this job because I like collaborative problem-solving. I hope the council can demonstrate that spirit of working together, and maybe if more people see that model working, they’ll take an interest in participating themselves.”

While it’s not the best for democracy, unopposed candidates can feel relief when no one files against them.

“Not having to run a re-election campaign gives me that much more time to focus on the work I was elected to do,” Rowe said. “This is a very busy fall for the council, with decisions on budgets, streets, building codes, and major projects. All the same, campaigning is the best way to learn what people want from their city council, and I miss public events like candidate forums.”

Several contests in the 2010s were not only challenged but triggered primary contests when more than two candidates filed. Recently, all three candidates in the 2017 contest were unopposed. Three of the four candidates in 2019 were opposed except Rowe, who was then elected to his first term. Currently, there are two council members—Rowe and Aislinn Palmer– who are serving their first terms after no election challenge.

For many years the council included a majority of older people with income stability, as retired people are best able to devote the time to what is essentially a full-time volunteer job. (Faber, Howard, and Palmer are the three council members under 50.)

“Serious change needs to start at the bottom, in your own backyard,” said Vega, who discussed global issues as a part of his council campaigns.

Mauro echoes this.

“We need to let people see how important local democracy is,” he said. “Getting involved on the  local level is how we will get the future we want.”