City of Leavenworth Mayoral Candidates 2023 Q & A

Serving as the mayor comes with a varying set of duties and powers that are integral to the city's governance. The mayor acts as the chief executive and administrative officer, overseeing all city departments and employees, ensuring efficient administration and public service delivery.

Additionally, they bear the responsibility of enforcing city laws and ordinances, and maintaining law and order for residents. The mayor presides over all city council meetings and holds the power of a tie-breaking vote, ensuring decisions are reached.

The mayor reports to the city council with recommendations, financial updates and prepares and submits the city’s yearly budget.

The Mayor also holds the power of a veto vote. However, the veto can be overridden by a majority plus one vote of all councilmembers. As the ceremonial leader the mayor represents the city at all events and ceremonies.

In essence, the Mayor's role encompasses executive, legislative, and ceremonial duties vital to the city's well-being.

According to Washington law, mayors are elected and serve a four-year term until their successors are elected, qualified and assume office.

In our commitment to bringing you informed election coverage, The Leavenworth Echo has reached out to the mayoral candidates of our beautiful city. We sent a comprehensive questionnaire to each candidate, seeking their insights on key issues and their vision for Leavenworth's future.

Here are the questions we posed to the candidates and their responses:

Please briefly introduce yourself and tell our readers about your background and qualifications for the role of mayor.

Carl Florea: My wife and I moved to Leavenworth in 1985 and raised our family of three sons here.  I have been active in the community since the very beginning, as both my professional career and volunteer time have all been about building and sustaining community and relationships.  I served as pastor of Faith Lutheran Church and was the founding director of Upper Valley MEND and the SHARE Community Land Trust.  I have served on the Cascade District school board, the Leavenworth Planning Commission, and the Leavenworth City Council prior to becoming Leavenworth Mayor in 2019.

Richard Brinkman: I moved to the Wenatchee Valley in 2000 to become Director of Administrative Services for the city of Wenatchee.  I was then invited to apply for the Leavenworth City Administrator position in 2005 and was hired in that capacity.  I have incredible life experiences that include working for a Congressman and hiking the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT – Mexico to Canada).  Here is a brief summary of my relevant experience for the Mayoral position in Leavenworth: Professor, Wenatchee Valley College, 2008-Present; Leavenworth City Administrator, 2005-08; 2010; Leavenworth City Council, 2016-17 as a temporary replacement for Michael Molohon; Director of Administrative Services, City of Wenatchee, 2000-05; Multiple Board of Directorships

What inspired you to run for mayor of Leavenworth, and what specific goals or initiatives do you hope to achieve if elected?

Richard Brinkman: My roots in this city are deep (Jim Ward, Ken Coffin, Mel Wyles, Cheri Farivar, and more), and I am running for many reasons:  I believe everyone would agree that speeding in school zones – and in general – is unacceptable, and I have tried to work with the City for four years with the current Mayor simply ignoring my four letters, two of which were signed by multiple neighbors who know this public safety threat to our schoolchildren and residential neighborhoods.  My other reasons for running – among others - include Improving the City’s snow removal operation. Beautifying our commercial district, especially the portion of Front Street that is currently closed off. Restoring a strong business community. Setting up a program to restore our residential streets. Cracking down on speeding – especially in our School Zones – and putting a stop to those altered/unmuffled vehicles that make the most obnoxious noise that terrorizes our neighborhoods. Managing thoughtful growth. Pursuing housing opportunities and concerns.

Carl Florea: I have seen the trajectory we are on as a beautiful mountain town and popular destination, simultaneously threatening our real definition of community.   More and more of our housing has been purchased as second homes at much higher prices than our local families could afford.  We were losing our ability to maintain our diverse, vibrant, family-oriented community.  We can no longer house our town’s vital workforce of not only service industry folks but teachers, health care professionals, and city workers.  We have gone from having a largely local workforce in the 1980s and 90s to having one that is forced to commute in from other areas, further and further away from Leavenworth.  The irony is that the very economic engine that “saved” this town is now drawing so many here that the success is threatening our ability to sustain a true, thriving community.  I can see that we are at a critical time.  A time where we can either let our town become just a resort for people with money or work together as a community to build Leavenworth into a town where our citizens, our business and our guests thrive together.

Leavenworth is known for its unique Bavarian-themed village and tourism industry. How do you plan to balance preserving this cultural identity with the needs and growth of the local community?

Carl Florea: We have been blessed with a very healthy economic engine created by the community coming together.  There is no doubt that the health of our tourism industry means that Leavenworth has many advantages over other communities of 2,500 residents.  We have a much healthier general fund due largely to the sales tax generated by our popular local businesses.  At the same time, it is important to remember that any local industry is healthiest when it builds and sustains the community in which it is located.  Providing for the needs of the local residential community along with the business community is the responsibility of city government.  My administration is dedicated to maintaining the sense of community we all have come to love while also supporting our businesses.  We are currently looking at a new park at the former Osborn school site, a potential new pool complex, and expanded library and community spaces.  Balance is critical in a community, and if the local residential community is in danger of being displaced, the system is broken, and steps must be taken to bring back that balance between these two necessary segments of what makes a community both whole and healthy.

Richard Brinkman: I strongly support Leavenworth’s Bavarian Theme, and my opponent simply cannot say that.  Our Bavarian Theme is what made us “Miracle Town” and largely pays the City’s bills, keeping our property taxes low.  Whether we believe it or not, we are tragically losing our shine.  It is one thing to bring people to Leavenworth, but it is entirely another to bring them back.  I envision a Leavenworth that is gleaming in both the residential and commercial districts, and I have a proven track record in this capacity.

Infrastructure and public services are essential for any community. What are your plans for improving and maintaining these aspects of Leavenworth's quality of life?

Richard Brinkman: I will ensure that our City has sufficient water and sewer capacities for all future developments, and we greatly need to restore our residential streets and the character of our neighborhoods.

Carl Florea: Providing infrastructure is a primary task of city government.  Because of our current infrastructure needs, we are driving substantial investments in our sewer and water systems.  But it’s important to understand how we got to where we are today.  Like many systems in small towns, they are old and, in many cases, substandard.  Our streets are in extremely poor condition because they were built originally by simply paving over the clay soils without laying a proper subgrade of gravel.   This led to breakup and the “alligator skin” look that plagues us today.  Consequently, what seemed like a good idea at the time has created a significant challenge today. Additionally, it is also important that the roads are not just rebuilt to proper standards without addressing the underlying infrastructure of water, sewer, and stormwater at the same time.  Past administrations and city managers haven't fixed our roads because they are so visibly in need, without fixing the underlying substandard water pipes.  This is akin to putting “lipstick on a pig.”  It looks great for a short time but only covers up more problems.  As they say, anything worth doing is worth doing right!  I am committed to spending tax dollars wisely, which means rebuilding roads as we rebuild the underlying infrastructure.  However, we are looking at “temporary fixes” to the roads that will “get us by” until we can do the right fix that is needed, which can take longer but will save us dollars in the long run.  This long-term stewardship approach is what I bring to city government.

As the mayor, you would play a significant role in the city's budgeting process. How do you plan to manage the city's finances and ensure fiscal responsibility?

Carl Florea: My chief responsibility as a city leader is to hire great experts in the areas of finance and city administration.  It is important that we spend our dollars as investments in our community and we balance the need to meet today’s goals without sacrificing the future.  I understand that it is the council that ultimately approves the budget and sets the policy goals that direct where spending should be done.  It is the administration’s job to carry out those goals and policy directives in a way that keeps that balance between spending and investing in our needs now while making sure we can sustain our commitments over the long haul.  As Mayor, I have the responsibility to provide vision and leadership across all these groups, and by engaging and communicating with the council and city administration, I plan to ensure we find this balance.

Richard Brinkman: I have managed, planned, overseen, and led City budgets from 2000 through 2010 and again in 2016-17, the latter as a Leavenworth City Councilmember.  I was awarded one of the City Administrators Of The Year in 2007 for implementing a Budget Planning process for the City of Leavenworth, and all of the budgets I have managed or overseen have all been balanced.

Leavenworth, like many other places, faces environmental challenges. What steps do you propose to address environmental issues and promote sustainability within the city?

Richard Brinkman: I will always ensure the City has the proper water and sewer capacity for all future development/growth.  It is also important to note that water is likely going to be the next “gold,” and I look to cities like Fryeburg, Maine, which tried to prevent the unsustainable extraction of their groundwater by a major corporation.  Given Leavenworth’s incredible freshwater sources, I will fight with all of my might to prevent what happened to Fryeburg, Maine, and other such communities in our country.  We also need to be very mindful of the risk that higher and higher density means, given – heaven forbid – what happened in California and, more recently, in Hawaii due to wildfires.  Munich/Bavaria has done some very thoughtful developments, and we have resources on the City’s Design Review Board to assist with this.  Why aren’t we?  We really need new leadership in our City.

Carl Florea: For those who have lived in this area for a while, we have all witnessed firsthand the changing climate and its significant impact on our local environment.  We’ve seen the susceptibility to forest fires threaten our air quality; we’ve seen our river levels drop, and we’ve seen harsher winters and drier summers.  As mayor, I take these changes seriously and have taken action to address environmental challenges. One example is the $500,000 grant we received to explore wells as our water source instead of our reliance on surface water from the Icicle River, as we have always done in the past because it was easy.  By driving this change, we will reduce our impact on fish and wildlife as available surface water decreases.  We have also received a grant of over $300,000 to support the increase in composting we are able to do. And we have begun exploring the conversion of our city fleet to electric vehicles.  We are working with the Chelan County, US Forest Service, and other agencies to address responsible use of our natural resources, including our rivers and our trails, which are in danger of being “loved to death.”  Finally, by housing more of our workforce locally, we can decrease traffic and the carbon footprint required to transport them here.  Through initiatives like these, I know we can become a model of what it looks like to be an environment AND tourism-friendly town.

The well-being of residents is a top priority. What strategies will you implement to enhance public safety and healthcare services in Leavenworth?

Carl Florea: Safety is a fundamental concern of my administration.  While we are too small to finance our own police department, we do meet regularly with the Chelan County Sheriff’s Department to give them direct feedback and special emphases on what we would like to see, such as increased speed checks on residential streets, public safety in our schools, etc.  From a healthcare perspective, we are blessed to have our own hospital and clinic in a day and age when many towns our size are losing theirs.  Being able to have housing for Cascade Medical staff is critical to keeping them open and meeting the needs of this community.  Finally, during the pandemic, I made, at the time, the unpopular decision to close Front Street to car traffic, giving space for social distancing and allowing our businesses to remain open with outside seating.  Fast forward to today, this has had the added benefit of creating a community space that most have now come to love and is part of a long-term plan to make permanent.

Richard Brinkman: I couldn’t agree more that the well-being of our residents and businesses is a top priority.  I have already mentioned that I will immediately address speeding – especially in our School Zones, which the current Mayor has ignored – as well as improving our infrastructure and our City Streets.  As for healthcare, it is a bit out of the realm of the Mayoral position, but I strongly believe that healthcare should be a basic human right and that we really need to address the mental health crisis that is only increasing in our community but across the country.

Housing affordability is a concern in many communities. How do you plan to address affordable housing options for Leavenworth residents?

Richard Brinkman: Affordable housing is not just a local issue but a problem across our entire nation.  I will support all Affordable/Workforce Housing initiatives, but I must note that there are several variables outside of local control, mainly market forces.  The one thing I really want to note here is that a City cannot put all of its resources into a single basket, which is exactly what the current Mayor is doing.  Who doesn’t support affordable housing?  In fact, when the current Mayor’s affordable housing project of Aldea Village went way over budget, I was the one who secured the grant funding to make that affordable housing project complete!  So Please, Leavenworth, please don’t think that I am not for affordable/workforce housing, and please don’t make affordable/workforce housing the issue of this Mayoral race.  It isn’t, and please consider my priorities mentioned above.

Carl Florea: Again, this is a key piece of my strategy and platform to keep Leavenworth a vibrant community and not just a resort for tourists or second homes but instead one for our families and workforce, too.  It is no longer just the lowest-income workers who cannot afford housing in Leavenworth.  Teachers, healthcare workers, and other middle-income working families are also unable to find housing.  To be a whole community, you need to have housing available for all income levels.  We need affordable rentals and first-time ownership opportunities.  The last workforce housing built in Leavenworth was done in 2007 under my direction at Upper Valley MEND.  This was a ten-home, permanently affordable ownership project using the Community Land Trust model, which allows modest equity growth while maintaining affordability.  Affordable housing and how effectively we can address it will determine what kind of community we become moving forward.  To address this need, we must have two fundamental strategies: 1) smaller, more diverse, and affordable types of housing such as townhomes, cottages, and even tiny homes, and 2) we must create a local funding stream that can capture land and homes for our workforce and take them out of the speculative market and put them to use as workforce housing.  Without both of these being done, we will continue our slide into a resort and second home village only.

Leavenworth's local businesses are crucial to its economy. How will you support and promote small businesses and economic development in the area?

Carl Florea: When it comes to supporting and promoting our small business and economic development, I am constantly seeking “win-win-win”’; initiatives that benefit our business, our citizens, and our visitors.  I believe this starts with working closely with the Leavenworth Chamber of Commerce to keep our tourism strong and sustainable.  I am reminded at this time of year of one very specific win-win-win when working with the Chamber - our new and improved Leavenworth Oktoberfest.  By redesigning our marque festival to leverage local food providers and breweries, redesigning to promote more pedestrian traffic through town, and focusing on family-friendly activities, the Chamber and the city have transformed the Leavenworth Oktoberfest into a true “miracle town” event that benefits all.

Another win-win-win is the “lemonade from lemons” situation of having to close downtown to car traffic during the pandemic.  Now, we all look forward to bringing the city and the community together to make the downtown core into a true “town square” that is enjoyed by our locals and our visitors, all while benefiting our small businesses.

I am always on the lookout for more win-win-win opportunities and while tourism will always be the prime driver of our economy, it is important that we look at other opportunities for some diversification.  These could be small manufacturing or technology businesses that are outdoor recreational related or supplemental to our tourism.  My administration has been in conversations with the Port Authority to discuss what might make sense and might provide small business incubator spaces that could expand opportunities.

Richard Brinkman: Again, I am a very strong supporter of our City’s Bavarian Them that made us a ‘Miracle Town.’  Many of our small businesses are struggling now, and this needs to change.  As Leavenworth City Administrator, I was able to secure the grant funding to completely reconstruct 8th Street, 9th Street, and Front Street from Hwy 2 to the Festhalle.  That same effort is needed for the currently closed portion of Front Street, which is the main “Welcoming Mat” for our visitors and is in serious need of the same restoration.  Our City lives on our tourism industry, and I fear we are losing it.  I will always prioritize the needs of our residents, seniors, and kids, but we have to understand that we are a tourism economy.  We now have our main area of Front Street crumbling and have weeds growing up on sidewalks, not to mention the gang graffiti popping up all over the place.  This is unacceptable!  If we are to continue with the current closure of Front Street, we have to do it right and make it feel like Bavaria.  Again, it is one thing to bring visitors here but quite another thing to bring them back.  We need to Restore Leavenworth Pride!

Collaboration with neighboring communities and government entities can be essential. How do you plan to work with other stakeholders to benefit Leavenworth?

Richard Brinkman: I have worked with regional organizations and leaders since 2000 and facilitated the Chelan-Douglas Leadership Council 2001-05.  If elected, I will continue to work with regional organizations and neighboring communities to ensure that decisions made are beneficial to the residents and businesses of Leavenworth.

Carl Florea: I have always believed in the power of collaboration.  One example is my administration's participation in collaborative efforts when planning for the future of the Icicle River.  This effort involves the city, the county, the Fish Hatchery, two irrigation districts, Trout Unlimited, the Colville and Yakama tribes, the Forest Service, the Department of Ecology, and environmental groups, all working together with very different sets of needs to arrive at win-win-win solutions.  We also work with others on regional approaches to housing, recreation, and transportation.  All of these help the region as well as Leavenworth.  Leavenworth is unique, but it is not, nor should it be, an island trying to go it alone.

Finally, what message would you like to convey to the residents of Leavenworth as they consider their choice for mayor in the upcoming election?

Carl Florea: We all want to see Leavenworth as a community that embraces and creates opportunities for all ages, all income levels, and all ethnic groups and takes housing of its workforce seriously.  To do this, we must balance the needs of our thriving tourism business, the attraction of our guests along with the needs of residents.  I believe passionately that Leavenworth can become an example of a small town that “figured it out” instead of one of the many who simply have devolved into one-dimensional resorts or retirement villages.  We live in a very special community and are blessed to call it our home, and I would be proud to continue doing the hard work to keep Leavenworth a community for all!

Richard Brinkman: Please, Leavenworth.  Please do not make this Mayoral race about affordable housing.  As mentioned above, it is not, and this election is too important for our City’s future.  We clearly need new Leadership at City Hall that is responsive to local needs and concerns and has a real vision for Leavenworth’s future.  I have effectively run this City before, and I am primed to do it again.  Please support Rich Brinkman for Leavenworth Mayor for the necessary leadership and change we need for our City’s future!  Thank You!