In 44th LD, Lovick, Kartak campaigning for state house seat, respond to questions

State Rep. John Lovick is defending his seat against Snohomish Mayor John Kartak for a state House of Representatives position in the 44th Legislative District.
Kartak rode into the Snohomish Mayor’s seat in 2017 by winning a hotly contested race against then-City Councilwoman Karen Guzak in an election that, because of the two candidates’ different approaches, was seen by some as a referendum about the direction of the town. Kartak’s campaign for Snohomish embraced retaining small-town values.
Until then, Kartak had never run for office. In 2016, he was a key part of the Proposition 2 campaign to change the city’s form of government to eliminate the city manager and install an elected mayor as the city’s boss.
Lovick has 50 years of public service behind him, from being a Washington State Patrol trooper who was elected state Representative and then Snohomish County Sheriff. He was appointed Snohomish County Executive to replace the disgraced Aaron Reardon. He began his public service by being in the Coast Guard.
Lovick, of Mill Creek, served as a state Representative from 1998 to 2006 before becoming Sheriff. More recently he was appointed to the same state Representative seat in 2016 to take over for Hans Dunshee, and won election in 2016. Lovick was re-elected in 2018 against Jeff Sax.
Kartak is a Republican; Lovick is a Democrat.
Ballots begin being mailed Oct. 15.
The Tribune asked the candidates to give short answers on homelessness strategies, personal liberties, handling climate change, and aiding with the K-12 schools budget and is printing their full answers below:

Q) If you were to narrow down your platform to your three highest priorities, what are they ?
Lovick: My top three priorities are good safe schools, good safe roads that are not clogged with traffic, and good jobs with benefits.
Kartak: Supporting business, community values, cutting taxes. Legislators in King County/Seattle are forcing their big-city, far-left agendas down our throats.  After all, they make up the majority power over the otherwise more-reasonable Democratic Party which currently controls both Houses and the Governor’s seat.  Taxes are going through the roof, our community values are under attack, businesses are struggling to survive, and our Police are being vilified for the actions of a few.

Q) In short, what do you believe is the best next step to addressing chronic homelessness through Legislative action? How would you act on it?
 Lovick:
I am pleased that the legislature invested over $400 million in the State Housing Trust Fund and local government efforts for affordable housing. We need to invest more. Our goal should be to put a roof over the head of every homeless person then go from there. We also need to prioritize having a diverse and opportunity-rich economy that provides opportunities for people to get back to work, and back on their feet.
Kartak: Within two years as Mayor of Snohomish, our homeless population reduced by half.  These are our sons and daughters, each of infinite value!  I pray for (and with) them, daily.  Unlike Seattle, we don’t help them to remain in such circumstances.  Addicts get into faith-based, private, and government programs. Victims of hardship get a hand up. Recent statewide failures, however, remove much ability for communities to help those with mental disorders. This desperately needs addressed!

Q) In your view, what role should the state government have in regulating public behavior and liberties?
 Lovick:
I believe that the government’s desire is to protect the public. In order to protect the public, government occasionally has to have rules and regulations that are proven and effective. For example, it has been proven that wearing seat belts saves lives. With respect to regulating public behavior during this pandemic, it has been proven that if we follow the science, wearing masks, washing hands, social distancing, and quarantining we save lives.
Kartak: Washington State Constitution: “...governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, and are established to protect and maintain individual rights.”  It is strikingly clear to me that if a Governor must suspend our Civil Liberties for an emergency, the Legislature has a sworn duty to assemble.  AWOL.  Why, all these months, won’t nine Legislative Democrats join the Republicans to create the majority necessary to call an emergency session?  Civil Liberties aren’t cheap.

Q) Would you support types of legislation for addressing climate change which also may increase costs to the public (such as low carbon fuel standards)?
 Lovick:
Record wildfires, receding glaciers, and degrading air quality are clear indications that climate change is real. It’s real now, and for our children it poses an existential threat. We have already mandated 100% clean electricity by 2045. We invested in Salmon recovery and helped protect our Orca pods from oil spills and marine vessels. To protect our environment we need to pass legislation that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reduce our carbon footprint.
Kartak: No. No. NO.  Why does the majority party in this state continue to pretend that forest fires aren’t a problem?  We can’t breathe during summer forest fire seasons, and all we hear about is how we need to improve air quality by increasing gasoline costs for vehicles that continue to improve in environmental efficiency.  How about we properly manage our state land instead of following radical forestry policies that repeatedly harm our environment and health.

Q) In your view, where could more funding for K-12 education be sourced from?
Lovick: We can never spend enough educating our children. In 2019, we increased state spending on schools by billions of dollars. The choice was clear then, and is clear now: we need to invest more in our schools, and we will. As we create efficiencies, we need to find ways to invest more in distance learning and special education. We have given the voters the choice to spend more on enhancing their local schools.
Kartak: Democrat leadership is proud of raiding the Public Works Trust Fund (that cities desperately needed) to provide a one-time payout for schools. They refer to this as a “solution” to education funding. Now the Public Works Trust Fund is effectively gone, and the school funding problem continues. We need to require the Department of Natural Resources to do their job —what our Constitution requires: manage our working forests to FUND schools, fire districts, and hospitals.


44th Legislative District candidate forum
The League of Women Voters recently held a candidate forum for the 44th Legislative District. You can listen to to the audio recording at the League’s website, https://lwvsnoho.org/services/forums/