Pullman candidates prioritize housing, vibrant downtown

Promoting affordable housing and creating a vibrant downtown ranked among the top priorities for Pullman City Council candidates running to represent Ward 1.

Challengers Francis Benjamin, Max Williams and Eric Fejeran joined incumbent Ward 1 Councilman Al Sorensen in a forum Thursday organized by the League of Women Voters of Pullman.

Primary ballots will be mailed to Ward 1 voters today and must be returned to the Whitman County Election Office by Aug. 3. The top two candidates from the primary election advance to the general election in November.

All of the candidates were asked what their top priorities would be if elected to the council.

Williams, a local physician, said addressing the need for affordable housing is at the top of his list. He said when people save money on their homes, it allows them to spend more of their money on small businesses.

“When you’re spending all that money, you can’t spend it in our coffee shops, you can’t spend it in our eateries, you can’t spend it down in our theaters and it kind of chokes the life out of Pullman and it really hurts folks also,” he said.

Fejeran, executive director for United Way of Whitman County, said he has been a renter the entire 10 years he has lived in Pullman so he, too, prioritizes affordable homes. Fejeran said his other top priority is making sure Pullman overcomes the COVID-19 pandemic and encourages people to get vaccinated.

“I know we’re in celebration mode but the fight is not over and we got to make sure we don’t go back to the dark days of 25-50 percent capacity,” he said.

Benjamin, a Washington State University employee and co-chairman of Pullman 2040, said his top priority is restoring the community’s trust in the City Council by promoting openness and transparency in city government.

“What I am hearing from the community members is they don’t feel that the council is respectful and really wants to hear from community members, and we need to build that trust,” he said.

Sorensen wants the city to move forward with the downtown master plan created to improve the attractiveness and the accessibility of Pullman’s downtown business district.

“If we don’t get this done now or in the very near future, I don’t know if it will ever get done,” he said.

He also prioritizes upgrading the citywide infrastructure such as streets and sewer lines.

The other candidates at different points during the forum expressed their desire to make downtown Pullman more vibrant.

Benjamin said the city has been too fixated on improving parking downtown when vibrancy is the real issue.

“If we can create a vibrant downtown, then people will walk from the parking lots that are half a block away,” he said.

Williams proposed implementing an ordinance requiring owners of downtown properties that have been vacant for at least two years to submit a plan to the city detailing whether they are going to sell the building, demolish it or rent it out. He said similar ordinances have been implemented in other Washington cities.

He also said Pullman should work to revitalize Grand Avenue and said some residents have told him they support creating a food truck court near the road.

Sorensen said the Southeastern Economic Development Association and Pullman’s Economic Development Manager Jennifer Hackman are working to recruit and retain businesses. He said to attract people downtown, there needs to be places for the public to visit.

When asked how Pullman can make all community members feel more welcome, Fejeran said the city representatives need to talk to minority communities and ask what they need from the council.

Sorensen said the city has made progress in that area and mentioned the multi-language welcome sign at the entrance of the city as an example.

“Now there’s always more work that can be done, I’m sure, and we should move forward with trying to do that,” he said. “But I do think Pullman is not as far behind as maybe some people might think.”

Williams said he would reach out to the various communities within Pullman and ask them to give a “report card” detailing what the city can do to make them feel more welcome.

Benjamin said the city needs to hear their stories. He said Pullman 2040 has organized parties on Pullman’s various hills to help neighbors get to know each other. Benjamin said he has been working with first responders to help them make community members feel welcome.

When asked if they support the idea of requiring city employees to get a COVID-19 vaccine, all the candidates said they were against such a requirement. Benjamin and Fejeran said they were unsure if such a requirement is legal. Williams said the vaccine has been so demonized as a result of misinformation, that some employees might quit if they are required to get it.

The Pullman League of Women Voters will make the recording of Thursday’s forum available in the coming days on its website, lwvpullman.org.

Kuipers can be reached at akuipers@dnews.com.