Small Town News

Keith challenges Burtons second term bid for ML City Council Position 3

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Race is only one being contested among four elected seats

Current Medical Lake council member Arthur (AJ) Burton will face Angie M. Keith for Position 3 in the Nov. 3 general election, the only contested seat in the race. Incumbents Brenda Redell, Shirley Maike and Jeff King are running unopposed for positions 1, 2 and 4 respectively.

Burton, 44, came to Medical Lake with his wife in 2000 after serving 14 years in the Air Force, some of the time at Fairchild AFB. Burton said after he left the military a friend told him about a computer contractor position that was open at the base. "I always liked the little town and decided I wanted to move here," he said.

Medical Lake's relative lack of crime and small town atmosphere contributed to his decision to stay and raise two children. He ran for, and subsequently won, a council seat in 2005 after reading up on the nation's founding fathers and becoming inspired by their ideals.

If elected to a second term in Position 3, Burton said, "I want to continue to strive to keep this a family oriented town where people can raise kids peacefully."

The best way to achieve this is to regulate growth he said, which he's done through zoning and by continuing to listen to his constituency. "This town will grow but the key is to make sure it doesn't grow too fast," said Burton. "There's a threat of overtaxing yourself and growing into the ground."

He would prefer to see more small "mom and pop" businesses stick around, but conceded the difficulty in making this come about. "It's hard to figure out how to do this but I know we don't want big box stores - they wouldn't be good for us. We want mom and pops to stay, many have come in but not a whole lot have stayed around for long."

Keith, 31, moved to Medical Lake from Colville, Wash, in 2004 with her husband and four children. In a recent e-mail she said they are a "small town" kind of family and she enjoys living in a place where everyone is welcoming and "where we can practically swim and fish out our back door."

A 2008 EWU graduate with a B.A. in social work, Keith said she is involved as a parent helper in many sports as well as being active in the Parent Teacher Student Organization. She is also a Doula, or birthing coach, and volunteers many hours with Catholic Charities of Spokane.

Keith said if elected to a council position she would utilize the experience she's gleaned from her job as operations manager for a rural-based Internet service provider.

"A key responsibility of my position is gathering strong community involvement and support required for the attainment of federal funds," she wrote. "I work directly with the council members and mayors in those communities, as well as other county, state and federal officials."

She said she would strive to promote the Parks and Recreation Department and to apply her understanding of federal funding programs to benefit the city. More communication with city residents, preservation of critical community facilities and safety and protection of Medical Lake itself are also on her agenda.

Ryan Lancaster can be reached at ryan@cheneyfreepress.com



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© 2009 Cheney Free Press Cheney, Washington. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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