Two declare candidacy for city council

"Although a handful are talking about it, only two residents formally announced their candidacy for Silverdale’s first city council. Central Kitsap Fire and Rescue CEO Dick West and Citizens for Silverdale President Richard Sheak announced their intentions within days of the vote, even though the County Auditor had yet to call incorporation a done deal. If Silverdale incorporates, residents will vote in a Feb. 29 council primary.“I didn’t come into this with that in mind, I want to make that clear. I came into this wanting to get incorporation on the ballot,” Sheak said. “But the way some things progressed, I think I should do it.”Sheak said he would bring with him to city hall the concerns of Silverdale citizens he heard while campaigning for cityhood. “I’ve talked to a lot of people and I think I know how people feel about certain issues,” he said.In a prepared statement, West said he would encourage a swift annexation to the fire district if elected to the city council. “It’s my desire to encourage the new city council to place before the voters a measure to annex the city back into the fire district as soon as practical. There is little reason to go through the exercise of building a municipal department when one is already in place,” West said.“The members of the city council are going to be dealing with issues of public safety that they might not be trained up to – things like Cencom (the central communications or 911 system) that I have a lot of experience with. I think I could bring to them those components of my background,” West said.West was hired in 1981 to direct Kitsap County Fire District 1, which merged with Kitsap County Fire District 15 to become Central Kitsap Fire and Rescue in 1998. In that time, West worked with all county and many municipal officials.Many of the Silverdale residents who were involved in the incorporation campaign are considering extending that involvement in the political process into the city council chambers. None have declared firm intentions.Jim Kendall, president of Silverdale-Now, the group credited with getting the incorporation proposal on the ballot, said it is premature to declare candidacy this early in the game. “I will wait for confirmation from the Auditor’s office before I say for sure. When it’s honest to goodness going to happen, then I’ll make up my mind,” he said.Nonetheless, Kendall said the incorporation proponents have a responsibility to support Silverdale city government. “Those who proposed it need to step up to the plate and participate. I would love to be part of building the new city and get it going in the directions where I think it should go – all of the reasons why we supported incorporation in the first place.”Sam Hadley, another incorporation campaigner, said his desire to run for city council grew out of a commitment to incorporate Silverdale. “I’ve lived here 10 years and could never figure out why Silverdale wasn’t a city,” he said.Hadley first got involved with the cityhood campaign a year and a half ago after a contentious forum with the county commissioners at Island Lake Park. Not long after, he started meeting with other like-minded Silverdale residents and chartered an incorporation proponent group, Silverdale-Now.Hadley sat on Silverdale-Now’s board of directors and jumped over to Citizens for Silverdale, another incorporation proponent, late in the campaign. The Ridgetop resident and Bangor computer instructor said his involvement in the cityhood campaign proves his commitment to the area. “The people most dedicated to it probably have the most interest in seeing it work,” Hadley said.David Quick, another incorporation backer, said it may be time for him to get involved with the infant city. The Keyport computer specialist designed the Web site for Citizens for Silverdale’s page, http://www.silverdale2000.org.Quick is the newest to the community, having moved to Silverdale in 1994. “I always thought it was a bit odd that I live blocks from downtown, but I have a Bremerton address,” the Bucklin Hill resident said."

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