Story updated Oct. 8 to reflect the correct cost for the proposed municipal building, $3 million.

Improving communications between the city and its residents and shoring up some overdue street and other infrastructure improvements were among the topics covered by Cosmopolis mayoral candidates at a recent Daily World editorial board meeting.

Candidate Kyle Pauley was appointed to the Cosmopolis City Council five years ago, and was elected to retain that seat a year later. He said running for mayor was “something I’ve wanted to do for a long time,” adding he didn’t think the opportunity would come up as soon as it did. “I know all the players on the county, state and regional level and look forward to working with them and helping the city kind of move forward.”

Steve Davis, who has been “heavily involved” with the Cosmopolis Fire Department for 20 years and served 3 years as a city councilman himself, said he decided to run for mayor when he met with Pauley “and had some concerns over some structure. I think we’ve got more a bureaucracy than we need, so we don’t seem to be able to get things accomplished in a timely manner in the city. I think we have a great city, a great foundation, but some of our work has been slipping over the past 20 years.”

Some of the structural issues Davis pointed to included the city’s hiring process.

“We often don’t advertise for positions that come up, we’ve hired family or close friends for years, generations actually, and it’s difficult to have culpability and accountability in that kind of hiring process,” he said. Another issue is, “we have a lot of new staff that have come in without the expertise of the senior staff being around so long. I think some training needs to happen to make sure everyone understands what their job classification is and to be able to do a better job.”

A check with a human resource officer at the city indicated that all open jobs are now posted on the Internet.

Pauley said that he personally did not know of any specific examples of a job not getting posted to the public. “I don’t think there’s any underlying ‘only hire family or people we know’ situations, but I’m not in that process,” he said. He added that in a small town with generations of families, where “everybody kind of knows everybody,” the fact a candidate may have ties to current employees or administration is not that unheard of.

Before the primary, when there were four candidates in the race, some concerns were raised that Pauley’s job as news director for KXRO radio could create a conflict with his candidacy. During the primary, Pauley left his morning show, returning after the primary.

“There are a lot of people concerned about that out there, just the appearance of fairness,” said Davis. He said he is concerned about the possibility of a mayor using his position with the city and with the radio station to his advantage.

Pauley pointed out that he stopped covering the Cosmopolis City Council when he was appointed to his seat five years ago. He leaves coverage of Cosmopolis government to other staff at the radio station, and said when he’s dealing with other officials from other cities, the county, etc., “there’s a clear distinction of which hat I am wearing,” meaning he makes the effort to clarify to whomever he’s speaking with as to whether what they’re discussing is reporter to source or elected official to elected official.

Also on the November ballot for Cosi voters is a proposal to build a new $3 million municipal building to house the police department, City Hall and court. Davis said he believes there is a need for a new police facility, but added, “I’m not so sure you need a complete City Hall renovation in that.”

Davis said he believes that there should be a “plan B” and that he thinks the current City Hall could be remodeled and reconfigured to make better use of existing space at less cost to the taxpayers than the proposed municipal building.

Pauley said he was firmly behind the plan for a new building.

“I am in full support of what is going to be on the ballot,” said Pauley. “We need to invest in the future of Cosi. The $3 million is a lot of money, but the price tag on the property taxes is less than it was on the fire department,” which was recently paid off, “and I feel like it’s a solid deal. I’m fully in favor of it, but it’s not up to me, it’s up to the voters.”

When asked what they’re hearing from citizens as the election draws near, Davis said he hears about “a lack of urgency around Public Works issues, and the lack of transparency in our city government.”

He said better communication is needed between the city and its residents, and pointed to the community board at the post office. In a town where there is no rural delivery and most residents visit the post office on a regular basis, that board is a central spot that should be posting important city announcements, news, council meeting notes and more, and it’s not being updated as it should, said Davis.

Pauley said in today’s digital world efforts must be made to improve the online accessibility of city information to its citizens, and like other small municipalities, Cosi might be behind the technology curve a step or two, but access online can be improved.

“Currently our Public Works is behind,” said Davis. “We’ve got projects that are in pieces, fire hydrants that don’t function, a pothole in front of the post office 12 feet long by 3 feet wide and it’s been there for years.”

He said the current phrase of “moving at the speed of government” is creating public safety issues, taking years to resolve, “and I think that’s ridiculous.”

“I don’t disagree that Public Works is understaffed,” said Pauley, noting they’re at least a “person or two behind, and that is something we’re working toward.”

He said the city’s budget has improved, allowing more flexibility in staffing and projects, but the city is “stretched thin so some projects get pushed back. Streets and sidewalks are way behind, and we piecemeal projects as budget and staffing allows.”

He said the city is going through its budget process now and attempting to find the funds to improve the city’s infrastructure.

Summing up, both candidates talked about their deep roots with the city.

“Anybody who knows me knows I’m 100 percent Grays Harbor. I moved to Cosi a little over 10 years ago and fell in love with it,” said Pauley. “I feel like I have the passion for Cosi, and I feel like I have the experience and drive and passion and feel like the right choice to help move everybody forward.”

Davis said Pauley is “a very worthy opponent, a very worthy candidate, but what the city needs right now is some firm leadership and some firm guidance. We almost have to take a step back, do some retraining and reallocating of funds, before we can really move forward.”