Among the contested races in Aberdeen is the one for Ward 3 Position 6, which pits Norm Klein and Scott Prato.
Here’s what they had to say about running for city council.
Norm Klein — Ward 3 Position 6
What makes you the best option for city council? Why?
“I immediately saw a desperate need for a new set of eyes on the city council,” Klein said. “I wanted to help solve the homeless issue, along with drug abuse and mental health needs of the homeless population.”
Klein gave kudos to the city council for addressing the issue with its Homelessness Committee, because it “attempts to bring all of the parties involved to the discussion.”
How specifically do you think your past experience will help you on Aberdeen City Council?
“I want to offer my almost 30 years of experience in law enforcement and federal corrections,” Klein said. “I also work part-time at the courthouse in Montesano and provide security to the court staff and the public.”
What are two issues you aim to work on should you join the city council? Why?
“The people I speak with are also very concerned that crime rates have gone way up and drug use is out of control,” Klein said. “The citizens feel afraid to leave their homes and want answers.”
Klein also had a statement for his neighbors.
“I want to help bring positive change to our beautiful community and ask the people of Ward 3 to vote for me this November,” Klein said.
Scott Prato — Ward 3 Position 6
What makes you the best option for city council? Why?
“As a long-time (40-plus year) resident and as a business owner for 25 years, I feel I have a better connection and feel for the needs of Aberdeen,” Prato said. “I have raised my children here. My son lives here and I will work hard to make Aberdeen a better place for everyone to live and work.”
How specifically do you think your past experience will help you on Aberdeen City Council?
Prato is a former building contractor.
“I have a fair bit of experience in leading a team to see projects through to completion, from estimating and budgeting project costs, dealing with cost overruns and scheduling problems while satisfying clients,” Prato said. “I’ve managed payroll and paying subcontractors and suppliers in both good economies and bad.”
What are two issues you aim to work on should you join the city council?
Prato spoke about the “lack of good, affordable housing,” and how it’s “caused rents to soar for folks lucky enough to find an available unit.”
According to Prato, the average age of a home in town is 100 years old and how “a fairly large portion of these houses have never been updated and still have the original wiring, plumbing and lack of insulation.”
Prato said the cost to remodel and modernize some of the older homes is “not economically practical and many can’t afford to build a standard stick-built house.”
“As a council member I will work with staff and council to streamline the permitting process and ease building restrictions on manufactured homes, such as tiny houses and park model homes, especially in some of the older neighborhoods with small building lots,” Prato said.
Prato looks forward to the start of the North Shore Levee project because it will remove a “large portion of Aberdeen from the flood zone.”
Prato said doing that will reduce the flood insurance need and eliminate the requirement to upgrade all systems and raising homes below the floodplain. He said it’s “made making improvements cost prohibitive and has stalled reviving downtown buildings.”
The second issue Prato wants to focus on “improving the homeless situation downtown.”
“Aberdeen has had a large homeless population on the banks of the Chehalis as well as beyond the southside dyke for as long as I can remember, but with the expansion of the port area the problem has become much more obvious than in times past,” Prato said. “For decades, the city has turned a blind eye to the situation and with the current laws I think it’s time for a new approach.”
Prato wants the city council to partner with Grays Harbor County to pursue grants to fund a low-barrier homeless shelter “where the unhoused can sleep instead of (on) our sidewalks and storefronts.”
Prato said the city needs to move forward to “create a safe place for transitional housing and treatment so existing laws can be enforced,” and residents can reclaim downtown as a safe place to operate a business, shop and attend events.”
Contact Reporter Matthew N. Wells at matthew.wells@thedailyworld.com.
