Both Hoquiam mayoral candidates have a dozen years in working with city government, and both want to see the current major infrastructure and business development projects through to completion.

Incumbent Mayor Jasmine Dickhoff and her challenger, longtime City Councilman Ben Winkelman, met with The Daily World editorial board Sept. 19 to discuss their vision for the city in the next four years and beyond.

“We are really midway through a lot of projects that started in my term,” said Dickhoff. “We’re finalizing (the BHP potash facility deal), and we’re midway through starting to build the levee and consolidation efforts for the fire department and other regional studies. I really just want to finish the job I started.”

In addition, “I would like to see a little bit more attention drawn to developing industry that can provide a nice economic base for the community,” said Winkelman.

Both agree the proposed BHP potash facility at the Port of Grays Harbor would be a positive step in that direction. The city has been courting the global mining company’s efforts to build a shipping facility for its product for more than two years, and it’s now performing a review of BHP’s shorelines permit application.

Winkelman agrees with Dickhoff that the North Shore Levee project will be a major financial and development boon, as it will save hundreds of properties from the federally mandated flood insurance requirement. He also would like to see the city work with the PUD and the port to develop the concept of a transoceanic fiber landing in Grays Harbor County.

Both candidates are encouraged by the cooperation between the cities of Hoquiam and Aberdeen as they consider consolidation of some public services. A study was recently completed on combining their fire and emergency services, and there is some potential for the cities to share a regional water treatment facility down the road.

“This is something that was supported and signed off by both unions, which was a necessity to make this happen,” Dickhoff said of the fire study. “Citizens want financially secure, high-quality emergency response services. This is a really unique time in history. It’s nice to look at all our issues as regional issues and address them that way.”

Winkelman said, “I’m optimistic the (fire) report is well received and we will continue to get recommendations, especially after we get some more feedback.”

As to a proposed regional water treatment facility for Aberdeen and Hoquiam, “there is a potential to save $10 million for both cities,” said Dickhoff. She said the treatment facilities in both cities are outdated and in need of an upgrade.

She added that with the potential of BHP’s potash facility coming to the region and attracting other investment, it’s important to make sure the city’s infrastructure can handle the growth.

It’s all pieces of a puzzle to promote investment in the region, said Winkelman.

“With the levee, we’re addressing the ability to allow people to invest in their homes,” he said. He said mandatory flood insurance makes some investors hesitant, whether they’re making improvements to their homes or using existing properties to start a business. The levee would alleviate some of their hesitance by lifting that requirement.

When asked about any environmental concerns they might have about the BHP facility, both indicated the extensive community outreach done by the company, as well as BHP’s willingness to mitigate concerns voiced by tribes, environmental groups and individual citizens, help to make the project attractive.

“I think it’s a really good fit,” said Dickhoff. Concerns about increased rail traffic have been addressed by the company including a train loop inside the project site itself, meaning trains won’t be “lingering” outside the area, creating more traffic delays.

Winkelman said he contacted the mayor of Hammond, Indiana, to discuss the impact of a potash transfer facility recently built there by another company. “They had a lot of environmental concerns, but it’s a very clean facility and definitely … made a difference in the tax base,” he said.

The two candidates agree on a number of things, though they tend to take different approaches. Dickhoff brought up as an example how the two work with small businesses vs. attracting larger-scale industry.

“I believe bringing in bigger businesses is an anchor for small businesses,” she said. “The reason I have buckled down and not done a lot more light-hearted, ribbon-cutting kind of events is because the time allotted to me is not guaranteed, and I want to accomplish as much as I possibly can for as many people as I possibly can in the time I have.” She said that’s why she has spent a lot of time focusing on the levee and other infrastructure projects that can attract the big industries like BHP, which in turn will benefit the small businesses.

“We approach the same issue from a different perspective,” said Winkelman. “It’s important small businesses understand how they fit in with the large projects. Otherwise they come to the City Council and think their business is at risk because we haven’t talked to them.”

Both candidates were given a chance to sum up their candidacy.

“I’m all in,” said Winkelman. He related a story from his youth as his family experienced the economic hardship of the early 1980s, uprooting his family from Camp Grisdale when the logging camp went under and his family found itself unemployed.

“My concern as a politician, a community member, a family member, is I don’t ever want to experience that in my life again,” he said. “We have to re-create our industry. We have to reinvent ourselves and take risks that are reasonable so we can succeed.”

Dickhoff said if re-elected, she would continue to focus on improving infrastructure, growing small businesses and attracting larger industry.

“My goal is to help create a community that is self-sufficient, where people can thrive and have options. Everything we have done to this point is built on that basis,” she said. “And I am not ready, quite frankly, to hand off the projects I have lived for the last four years to someone else when they are on the precipice of becoming completed, finalized, approved projects.”