Election 2024: Hansen looks to retain appointed Senate seat in Washington's 23rd District

The primary race to represent the state's 23rd Legislative District in the Washington State Senate, which includes North Kitsap, Bainbridge Island and a portion of the east side of Kitsap County stretching into East Bremerton, has an experienced candidate but it is not technically a re-election.

Sen. Drew Hansen, a Democrat from Bainbridge Island, was appointed to the Senate position last year after the departure of former 23rd Dist. Sen. Christine Rolfes, now a Kitsap County commissioner.

Hansen is the only Democrat in the primary, facing a challenge from two candidates stated as Republicans. One is Lance Byrd of Bremerton, an IT professional who's been involved in Republican politics locally, and the other Ace Haynes of Suquamish.

The two candidates receiving the most votes in the August 6 primary move on to the November general election.

VOTER GUIDE: Washington primary election August 2024

The Kitsap Sun asked the legislative candidates to answer three questions, with a limit of 200 words for each answer, which follow below.

Lance Byrd

Current Occupation: Sr. Technical Program ManagerElected Experience:  Precinct Committee Officer, previous candidate for school boardCommunity Experience: Active member of the Refuge Church in Bremerton; board member for the 23rd LD Republican Committee.

Party: Republican

Campaign contributions: $3,125

What are the district's priorities, and what makes you the best candidate to achieve them?

Crime that is not taken seriously, as when thieves steal vehicles and items from porches and businesses and are not prosecuted sends the message that government does not care about you or justice. This has emboldened criminals to commit more serious crimes and caused the community to be further victimized. I will work to reverse this.

Repeal of the “Cap and Trade” gas taxes, which have pulled $2 billion from the pockets of Washington residents. For those making $150K, this tax is an annoyance. For families in Bremerton making the median household income of $68,000, this forces difficult sacrifices. Is the microscopic reduction in CO2 emission worth the pain inflicted on those who can least afford it?

Fund homeless triage centers to relocate those without shelter to a safe environment. Those who are suffering from addiction problems will no longer be ignored. Homeless encampments spread because of current policies. One of the first programs I will push is one modeled after the San Diego project called Sunbreak Ranch. This will provide safety for both the homeless and the residents of Kitsap County.

I have the people skills, technical abilities, and heartfelt commitment to my community to accomplish these priorities and more.What can the legislature do to ensure ferry service to ferry-dependent communities becomes reliable?

Restoring reliable service starts with rehiring experienced ferry workers who were fired for disagreeing with the vaccine mandate. That edict resulted in firing of 121 employees and early retirement of 11 more. Restoring trust in our ferry workers begins with passing a law that protects state employees from future medical coercion.

Stop the conversion of working diesel boats just to convert them to hybrid. About 15 boats are operational, with 10 in a “State of Good Repair.” We need a 26-boat fleet, so I will work to have our operational boats stay in service until new boats are delivered. A study of WSF governance stated, “political agendas are brought to bear on virtually every aspect of policy, planning, and day-to-day operations.”  Except for politics, we could have had by now a 26-boat fleet, saved half a billion dollars, and still have a 60% hybrid fleet. I will work to create leaders in WSF who are technically savvy about ferries and who advocate for the long-term functioning of the system. My voice in the Senate will be to manage the system to reduce deferred maintenance, be attentive to approaching obsolescence, and plan for construction timelines.

What state tool, or combination of tools, do you see that has worked to help develop affordable housing and could be employed by the state in Kitsap County?

Many individuals and families are in dire need of affordable rental housing. While landlords are not often loved, encouraging and facilitating more people to become a landlord is key to providing abundant and affordable rental properties. By lowering the legal risks and financial traps imposed by the state, more people will be encouraged to offer housing. This does not mean we lower safety standards or requirements for landlords to make repairs when needed.

The state can also help mitigate financial risks for landlords trying to do the right thing by providing security and damage guarantees on behalf of good people who don’t have the money needed for deposits.

Owning a single-family home is a goal for many. However, costs keep rising faster than wages, making the dream out of reach. The cost and timeliness of building permits along with state-imposed restrictions on where housing can be built aggravate the problems of housing availability and affordability. I will work with fellow legislators and local leaders to reduce the bureaucratic burden on builders. Finally, I will put forth legislation that will prevent corporations from buying large numbers of existing single-family homes that deplete the housing supply and unfairly raise prices.

Drew Hansen

Current occupation: Senator, 23rd Legislative district; attorney

Elected experience: Washington House of Representatives (2011-2023), appointed to Washington State Senate (2023)

Party: Democratic

Campaign contributions: $134,367

What are the district's priorities, and what makes you the best candidate to achieve them?

We all want to live well and thrive here in Kitsap County, and I focus on making sure that people have the opportunity to find good jobs to support their families. I don’t want people to have to take a bridge or ferry to continue their education or get a job; I want us to have these opportunities right here in Kitsap County. I worked with Washington State University and Western Washington University to bring new college opportunities to Kitsap County, expanded the Olympic College engineering program to train more engineers for the shipyards, and protected marine industry jobs with legislation to remove derelict boats from our waterways.

I served our district in the Washington State House of Representatives from 2011-2023, where I won several awards for my public service, including the Washington State Nurses Association “Nursing Champion” award, the Washington Public Utility Districts Association “Legislative Champion” award, and the “Legislator of the Year” award from the Washington Student Association.

What can the legislature do to ensure ferry service to ferry-dependent communities becomes reliable?

First, we need to get new boats up and running as fast as we can. I strongly supported our reforms in the ferry vessel procurement process so that we can get new boats faster and cheaper. We currently have the next set of ferries out for bids; we anticipate that our improvements in the procurement system will mean we have more competitive bids.

Second, we need more trained staff on the ferries as soon as possible. I strongly supported our initiatives to improve ferry worker pay, broaden recruitment, and make it easier for people to come work for the ferries after other careers in the maritime industry.

Third, we need to continue to invest in alternate solutions like the Kitsap Transit fast ferries so we have ways to fill gaps in service.

This is the product of years of neglect: I voted against a major gas tax increase shortly after I got into the Legislature because it wasn’t going to provide adequate ferry funding. We now have more legislators committed to fixing the ferry system, but it is going to take time for our reforms and investments to get us back to full service.

What state tool, or combination of tools, do you see that has worked to help develop affordable housing and could be employed by the state in Kitsap County?

We need an “all of the above” approach on housing; it’s really hard for people to afford to rent an apartment or buy a house in Kitsap County because it’s become so expensive.

First, we need to build more market-rate housing in areas already zoned for density. I strongly supported getting our home construction back up and running during COVID as soon as possible, and I continue to support building more homes in areas that are already zoned for density so that we can drive down new home prices.

Second, we need more income-limited affordable housing — housing that is available to people who fall below a certain income level. We have some great projects that are now open in Kitsap County; I was at the ribbon-cutting last year for Miller’s Crossing — a new 38-unit affordable housing development in Bremerton — and we need more of this.

Third, we need more supportive housing and homeless shelter capacity for people with nowhere to go. We opened Pendleton Place in Bremerton a few years ago; this provides apartments with substance abuse treatment, health care, and job search assistance; this is a fantastic model to help people who are homeless.

Ace Haynes

Current occupation and experience: Civil rights leader, Suquamish Community Advisory County

Elected experience: Water Commissioner for Country Meadows; Precinct Committee Officer

Party: Republican

Campaign contributions: $0

What are the district's priorities, and what makes you the best candidate to achieve them?

Kitsap County has terrible media coverage, and the Kitsap Sun is largely to blame.  There was a violent insurrection at the Kitsap County Convention on February 10th and 5 months later, the Kitsap Sun hasn’t reported on it. Instead, they report on national news that is already well covered by more competent news sources. The headline “…Trump was rushed off stage by U.S. Secret Service after popping noises rattled the crowd” was disrespectful, and a disservice to Corey Comperatore.

Then, on July 24th, the Sun solicited the submissions for this candidate series to start on the 28th. This is two months too late. While other candidates pander to the media I will say it straight; this “news” paper sucks. The Sun’s remaining value is in local sports reporting, obituaries, and as an archive of long ago, when the Sun was an indispensable part of our lives.

The first step to solving a problem is to identify the source of the problem and bringing the truth to light no matter how difficult it is to face. Doing better starts with being honest that what you are doing is flawed, broken or just flat wrong. How do you tell the school district that students deserve the same guaranteed access to sunlight as federal prison inmates without first pointing out that our children are being deprived of sunlight, AS A PUNISHMENT, while our most trusted “administrators” defend this policy as quietly as possible?

What can the legislature do to ensure ferry service to ferry-dependent communities becomes reliable?

The easiest way to ensure ferry service is to promote private enterprise. Washington State Public Ferries has always been subsidized for the greater public good, often at the expense of reliability. When forced to choose between having good ferries, affordable ferries, and available ferries; Washington has consistently favored good ferries and then prioritized affordability over availability.

Our current legislative leaders have made it clear that they are exploring various degrees of privatization while disguising their decisions as “necessary” or “temporary” instead of just being honest with us.  They are discussing ways of using our money as inefficiently as possible, claiming we can save time and money near-term by outsourcing and leasing a quick solution to a long-term problem.

This reminds me of a Kitsap Commissioners’ executive study session: The topic was switching propane suppliers to someone from Gig Harbor. The whole report, I kept expecting the superior customer service of the existing local supplier would be referenced, and instead the current supplier and their quality was not mentioned at all. I wanted to ask if the existing supplier was Kitsap Propane, but they don’t encourage public participation.

What state tool, or combination of tools, do you see that has worked to help develop affordable housing and could be employed by the state in Kitsap County?

Our State Leaders have adopted legal working definitions of “affordable housing” and “housing that is affordable” that ensure any conversation with them on the topic will be mired in misunderstanding. The former phrase is used to mean housing that is under more intense regulations, and the latter means that the occupants have more extensive expenses than their housing. Neither of these legal loopholes to allow using “affordable” in such a grossly deceptive way does anything to develop housing solutions.

Quick and easy short-term solutions will make things worse later. We need to adopt careful long-term strategies that consider everybody and not just the loudest voices who enjoy being re-re-represented by their lobbyists and bought politicians. Whether it is our schools, our news media, our ferries, our housing, or any other issue; we need to be represented by people who will first and foremost help us to represent ourselves, and then represent us when we cannot.

These problems grew over two decades as our politicians stood quiet and now they loudly promise that they can fix them all in two or four years.

We can protect our ferries, and build our communities, with careful patience and perseverance, not corrupt promises and pandering. Real affordable housing means reviving an old play: Higher residential property base tax rates combined with increasing a broad range of residential property tax exemptions in a revenue neutral policy that would encourage the development of modest lots and discourage large idle investment properties. It would be a tax break for most people who are modest renters and home owners, and slightly raise taxes on large estates, luxury rentals, and mostly on vacant speculation investment lots. It is a slow, stale solution that is too honest to be useful to the ones who got us into this mess.

This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Hansen faces 2 challengers in primary for 23rd District Senate seat