As election day draws closer, two political newcomers are racing for the Deer Park City Council

Two political newcomers are competing for a seat on the Deer Park City Council.

David Aufdencamp is the director of graduate medical education at Washington State University’s College of Medicine. He’s built his campaign around improving what he believes is the foundation of a successful community by creating a place where residents want to live, work and play. Aufdencamp said increasing opportunities for recreation, ensuring public safety and making sure residents have opportunities to stay healthy are his top priorities.

Tony Bailey is a construction project manager for Yost Gallagher Construction and owns a building in Deer Park that he rents out to businesses. He identified his three major focuses as improving effective capital planning in the city, recruiting businesses to grow the tax base and making sure that residents of Deer Park have someone who will listen to their grievances and respond accordingly.

“There’s no greater honor than to serve your community, and there’s multiple ways to do that,” Bailey said. “I feel very inclined to serve on the City Council and be able to bring multiple voices to light and do what we can. You can’t do everything, but you can definitely listen. There’s always that at the forefront. Then when you can’t do something, there needs to be communication to the effect that people understand why you weren’t able to accomplish the request.”

Aufdencamp is involved with the Deer Park Parks, Recreation and Open Space Task Force and aims to create a comprehensive plan for more residents to enjoy the outdoors. He also said reviewing regulations, ordinances and learning more about the barriers that limit business growth are on his checklist.

Because the city of Deer Park continues to grow, he would like to ensure that the city has the proper facilities and infrastructure to support the continued residential growth. Growth isn’t bad, Aufdencamp said, but ensuring that growth occurs in a sustainable fashion is critical.

“I’m a candidate to believe in because I care for the city,” Aufdencamp said. “I care for the people in the city, and I’m an active servant in the city. So I continue to be involved in volunteer work, as I have been before. I think you need to be connected with the people to understand and to get a feel for what they want. And then they can see you and say, ‘Hey, David’s one of us.’ ”

Bailey, like his political opponent, would like to see a more set-in-stone plan regarding transportation and the growing population. He believes that certain parts of the city are not as easily accessible as they could be. He would like to see a more strategic plan to make Deer Park a truly walkable city, not just in the outlying areas, but with a plan for direct paths into grocery stores, restaurants and schools.

“The last major item that requires planning and funding, potentially fundraising, is a multi-age community center where you could have your senior center involved, youth programs, and then youth camps during the summer,” Bailey said. “That multi-age facility could emulate, or look similar to a YMCA with an indoor pool, workout facility, walking track, other sports courts, and then Phase 2 would be a sports complex where you’d have softball and soccer for tournaments in the city.”

Aufdencamp said the Deer Park Parks, Recreation and Open Space Task Force facilitated a survey that asked residents what they wanted to see in Deer Park. The biggest wish among the 600 to 700 respondents, Aufdencamp said, was for a community center similar to a YMCA.

He wants to look at what’s realistically possible and financially feasible by taking into account what the community would be willing to support.

“We need a positive reason to have more connectivity and I think a multi-age facility is the answer,” Bailey said.

Tim Verzal, the mayor of Deer Park, praised Aufdencamp’s intellect, research-oriented approach to issues, volunteerism with the food bank and the Fraternal Order of Eagles, and his great attitude. Verzal said both Aufdencamp and Bailey are good candidates, but he leans in favor of Aufdencamp for those reasons.

“He does his homework before he opens his mouth,” Verzal said.

Robert Whaley, who ran for the same City Council position but lost in the primary, is telling his voters to take a close look at Bailey.

Whaley said many of the council members, including Aufdencamp were he elected, want Deer Park to be like an “upscale California kind of retirement place,” which is significantly different from the small-town, know-your-neighbor atmosphere that Whaley’s called home for most of his whole life. Bailey, on the other hand, won’t leave the average person behind, according to Whaley.

While Bailey and Aufdencamp have many of the same priorities, where they deviate the most revolves around the potential creation of a Deer Park police force.

“Everything I’ve seen so far tells us that we want to continue our relationship with Spokane County,” Aufdencamp said. “The city’s in process of adding a fourth deputy, which will go from three to four. That’s a significant increase in presence here. So that will help.”

Deer Park has a contract with the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office to provide three full-time deputies to patrol the area. Aufdencamp said he’s concerned not only about the cost of creating a police department, but the liability that would rest on Deer Park.

Bailey said a city-run police force is a better option financially. He points to smaller cities like Chewelah that have more officers and spend barely more than the current $900,000 that Deer Park pays to the sheriff’s office.

He wants to do an analysis to examine sheriff’s hours served within the city limits and the cost for each full-time employee compared to the cost for a 24/7 police force with additional full-time employees.

Bailey would like to see an implementation plan for the police force within the next three to five years.

The election is Nov. 4. Ballots will be mailed Oct. 15 -17, according to the Spokane County government website. The deadline to vote online or by mail is Oct. 27.