By Jacob Dimond
jake@yelmonline.com
Five applicants took the podium on March 12 to make their cases for why they should be appointed to the vacant Yelm City Council position 4 seat.
The applicants included Griselda Arias, Stephanie Kangiser, Ryan Cruz, Robert Isom and Chris Putra. Yelm City Councilors will vote to appoint the next council member at their Tuesday, March 26, meeting. A simple majority vote will secure the appointment, replacing Holly Smith, who resigned last month.
Griselda Arias
Arias said she’s the daughter of Mexican immigrants who came to the United States in the 1980s. She was born and raised in the Yakima Valley.
“I was instilled with a deep sense of determination and community from a young age,” Arias said. “This drive led me to enlist in the Army National Guard at 17, recognizing it as my pathway to higher education and an opportunity to serve my country.”
At the age of 20, Arias said she completed a tour of duty in Iraq, adding the experience shaped her perspective of service, resilience and leadership. After she concluded her service, Arias earned degrees in public health and health administration along the way.
Being a resident for three years, Arias said she is “deeply committed to the wellbeing of our community. She said she believes her professional background and experience has given her “a unique perspective that will contribute significantly to our city’s growth and prosperity.”
Arias said her priorities include enhancing community health and environmental sustainability, promoting education and community engagement, and managing the city’s growth through sustainable infrastructure development. She voiced her commitment to work collaboratively with her fellow councilors, the city departments and residents if appointed.
“My journey from the Yakima Valley to the heart of Yelm is a testament to the values of hard work, dedication and service,” Arias said. “It is these values that I intend to bring to the Yelm City Council so that together we can build a vibrant, inclusive and resilient community that thrives for generations to come.”
Councilor Tracey Wood asked Arias, if appointed, if she intends to run again for the seat when it’s up for election in 2025, and she said she does.
Councilor Brian Hess asked Arias, of the upcoming projects in the City of Yelm, which does she view as being good for the city, and which does she view as bad?
“I don’t know if I’d have one that I’d say is a bad one. I was watching the dog park very closely,” Arias said. “I am a proud dog mom. I knew there was some feedback that not everybody was excited about the dog park and the need for it, but that’s one that I’m very excited about.”
Arias added she’s excited about the Prairie Line Trail project and the possibility of bringing a YMCA to Yelm.
After being asked by Councilor Trevor Palmer what sustainable growth for the city looks like, Arias said it falls back on comprehensive planning.
“It’s working with not just our knowledge here, but working with the urban planners, architects, community stakeholders,” she said.
Hess also asked Arias her viewpoint of the homeless crisis, which she said is a challenging subject. She said the homeless coalition is a good start as it provides a place to bring up the topic of homelessness from a localized viewpoint.
Stephanie Kangiser
Kangiser ran on November 2023’s election ballot and narrowly lost to current-Councilor Wood by 23 votes. Her involvement in the community includes three years as the Yelm Dollars for Scholars auction board secretary, and she is a 12-year member of the Yelm Chamber of Commerce, including four years of board service. She’s also been a Yelm Rotary Club member since 2019 and has owned Bliss Experience in McKenna for 12 years.
In response to an inquiry by Wood, Kangiser said, if appointed, she would run for the seat again in the next election in 2025.
Crossman asked Kangiser how she plans on balancing her work and community commitments with making decisions that would benefit an entire community.
“I think a lot of the organizations that I’m a part of, they’re flexible groups,” Kangiser said. “The city really builds the infrastructure and foundation of all of that. Once the city is thriving, then the citizens and our organizations can thrive.
“One example that’s happened in the last year or two is our community center. We were able to bring that community center in on a grant, and we were able to reap the benefits of all that. The longer things roll, we discovered there’s a deficit, and it’s actually costing us a bit of money.”
Kangiser said the city had to take a closer look at its budget over the last year and reframed what the budget looked like. She said this scattered some of the city’s events.
“It’s taken some of the events from the community center and spread them out to the other places,” Kangiser said. “That’s kind of a cool thing. It’s not always at the community center, and it’s helping our city grow.”
Hess asked Kangiser which current city projects she believes are good, and which are bad, and why.
Kangiser said the city has a lot of ongoing projects, and she’s “not sure (she) could bullet point each of them.”
She did highlight the ongoing dog park project and said she’s “sure it’s going to be wonderful.”
“Especially, I think as it was mentioned, so many apartment complexes are being built right now, and more people will be able to get out,” Kangiser said.
She added, the construction of roundabouts throughout the town are great, and she’d love to see continued research to help improve traffic conditions through Yelm.
Palmer asked Kangiser what she views as the top areas of improvement the city needs to work on, to which she answered traffic flow and voices within the community being heard.
Ryan Cruz
Cruz described himself as having common sense, being solution-oriented and being a balanced and dedicated individual.
“I’ve always wanted to be in some sort of leadership like this and think this is the best way to go about it,” Cruz said.
Cruz, a lifelong resident, has two kids whom he wants to raise here, and said he “definitely cares for the future of this city.”
Councilor Terry Kaminski said she knows Cruz has lived in Yelm for a while and asked why he wants to become involved now.
“I think the political climate is sort of shaping that for me, lately, in general, not just here in Yelm,” Cruz said. “I want to do my part, at least in the local (area) when I can, to put my vote in and make sure and see this city [meets] its highest and best possibilities.”
Palmer asked Cruz what he sees as the top three things Yelm needs to work on as a city, and why. Cruz said finding solutions to the traffic situation and homelessness crisis and did not provide a third answer.
He said everyone is affected by traffic in Yelm but hopes the upcoming roundabout and bypass projects will alleviate the issue. If elected, Cruz said he’ll do his part to make sure it moves forward in a proper manner.
“In the last few years, there’s been a huge increase in homelessness. I think it has an effect on crime, and I think it has an effect on society, in general,” Cruz said. “I’m not sure how to best approach that yet, hence the reason I want to be a part of people who are in leadership and cast my vote on that.”
Crossman asked Cruz, from the perspective of a local business owner and longtime community member, if he believes Yelm is business friendly and what suggestions he’d make to improve it. Cruz said he does think Yelm is business friendly.
“Suggestions for the city would be putting some efforts towards more child-friendly things,” Cruz said. “We have a dog park that just came in, and we have the splash pad, but something that’s more geared for winter time. In Washington, it’s rain and cold for nine months of the year.”
Robert Isom
Isom, a former council member for 15 years, said he hopes his insight and past experience can help guide the council for the future. He added he has free time at hand and believes he might have “valuable insight” that he can offer to council, if appointed.
Kaminski asked Isom what he believes the current council is doing right, and what it is doing wrong. Isom said the current council works together in a cohesive manner, which he added hasn’t always been the case.
“From what I’m reading, you’re considering what impact on the future that actions you’re taking now will have, which is good,” Isom said. “You have to always be aware that, for every action, there’s an opposite and equal reaction, and some of them have unintended consequences.”
Palmer asked the former councilor what he thinks the city most needs to work on and why.
Isom said land use and utilities. Isom said it’s nice to grow and that Yelm has to grow as a community, but it needs to be done in an orderly fashion.
“One thing that most people don’t realize is … with growth, there’s added responsibilities for the city. For every new mile of street put in and every new mile of waterline put in, every new mile of sewer line put in, you have to look into the future and say how is it going to be maintained? What is the end cost in the long run?” Isom said. “The utility costs need to be addressed, and I’m fully aware they have to be self-sustaining and self-supporting. A lot of people aren’t aware of that, and I think the more that the city can get the word out as to why things are being done the way they’re being done, people come to realize that.”
Hess asked Isom his thoughts on the homeless situation and what the city’s role should be.
“There are innumerable resources out there right now that are being under-utilized — granted they’re not centrally located here in Yelm. The distance is not so great, and transportation is available to the urban areas where those facilities are maintained,” Isom said. “We get very little money here in the City of Yelm for those types of things. It goes to Tumwater, Olympia, Lacey and the county. Where is the money coming from? How much can we ask the citizens of Yelm to bear?”
Isom, who has lived in Yelm for “70-something” years, was asked by Crossman what his thoughts were regarding Yelm’s growth trajectory.
“Are we doing the responsible thing? Are responsible measures codified within the codes that will allow me to do the responsible thing in a reasonable manner that I can afford,” Isom questioned. “You have to have growth, but it has to be done responsibly.”
Councilor Hess asked Isom if he’d consider running for election to the position in a year and a half when it’s up for vote, and he said no, due to his age.
Chris Putra
Putra, a Yelm resident since 2009, said he’d run for election in 2025 if he was appointed to the position. He lives in the city with his wife and two children, who he said are fully supportive of his desire to serve in the community.
Putra, who has served the Yelm community “for a long time,” said he felt service was a personal calling to him and his family.
“My kids and my wife were all on board, and we love it. We go and meet people on all kinds of different levels, from all types of walks of life, and for a while I thought, yes, I’m ready,” Putra said. “I want to be a part of the Yelm team. I want to serve.”
Councilor Joseph Richardson added, “If nobody knows about this family and what they do in the community, they volunteer their time everywhere. They’ve probably been at every community dinner and have served at every community dinner … These people are phenomenal.”
Crossman recited a recent email he received about “greedy” water prices within the city and asked Putra what his thoughts were on his water bill. Putra said he lives in Yelm and pays the water bill.
“In the summertime, when I fill up my pool, I strategically plan and pick the days because my water bill will be crazy,” Putra said. “It has bothered me at times, but I actually looked into it.”
Hess asked Putra what are some ongoing projects within the community that he supports, to which he said the upcoming bypass project is great.
“It seems, over the years, it’s gotten so terrible at times with traffic detouring through Yelm. It’s like the secret’s out that you can cut through this area,” Putra said. “I’m also a fan of the dog park. At first, I didn’t really understand it … but a dog park would be cool because of the community, and there are a ton of dog people here in Yelm.”
Palmer asked Putra what areas he thinks the city should most improve and why.
“Since I’ve been here, I think safety has become a bigger and bigger issue. I don’t know if it’s because of social media awareness and that I’m on social media and have more insight to it now than I have before,” Putra said, “but there are so many times when I see that there’s an investigation going on for a shooting or a murder or road rage, just recently.
“I think it’s important that Yelm grows with the times — that it changes, gets more modern. I think Tim’s Pharmacy is a great example with the renovation that’s going on there and the big changes,” Putra continued. “Same with the school systems, Southworth and Yelm Middle School, that’s the first steps to bring[ing] them into the modern age so we can keep up.”
