A statewide organization representing Washington’s 281 towns and cities recently launched a yearly award to celebrate some of the cream of the legislative crop. Bothell Democrat Derek Stanford and Sequim Democrat Steve Tharinger top the list of five lawmakers saluted as “2014 Municipal Champions” by the Association of Washington Cities (AWC). According to the association’s press release: Stanford, Tharinger, and the three other members of the quintet “played a leading role to help restore and strengthen the partnership between the state and cities during the 2014 Legislative Session.”
“The legislators we are honoring with the inaugural Municipal Champions Award represent the breadth and diversity of Washington,” stated Craig George, the AWC president and mayor of the southeastern Washington city of Dayton. “These folks represent big, small, urban, rural, and suburban cities and towns. It goes to show that fighting for the opportunity for local communities to thrive is something that is important across Washington.”
Stanford, the vice chair of the House Capital Budget Committee, and Tharinger, the vice chair of the House Finance Committee, helped guide and manage significant discussions in the recent legislative session.
Stanford sponsored legislation to restore much-needed resources to the state’s Public Works Assistance Account. The account, which suffered drastic funding-hits in recent years, has historically provided significant financial boosts to extremely important local infrastructure and other projects. Tharinger sponsored legislation to restore vital revenue from the state’s liquor-license fees that in the past has been shared among Washington communities. The revenue from these fees represents a huge part of the financial resources upon which a community calls to fund its responsibilities to its citizens.
The 2014 ACW award, adds the association’s press release, “is being given as a component of ‘Operation Strong Cities,’ which is a combined effort to ensure communities throughout the state have the capacity to provide needed services.”