Wendy Weiker and Salim Nice have stepped up to fill the seat to be left by Mike Cero for Position No. 3 on the City Council. It is the only contested race in which an incumbent is not running.

The two candidates debated Monday, Sept. 28 at the Mercer Island Beach Club on many issues: growth, Town Center, transportation and the Mercer Island Center for the Arts (MICA).

Nice, a new dad and information technology and services executive, said he would advocate for lowering building heights, imposing impact fees, tightening parking regulations and limiting growth in Mercer Island if elected.

“The growth and density discussion is at the core of many of the issues we face today, [such as] transportation, schools and levels of service,” Nice said.

Weiker, a working mom who does community relations for Puget Sound Energy, said she would use her experience with collaboration and project management to listen to all parties, including regional partners, and find win-win solutions.

“We’re an Island community, but we’re not an isolated community,” she said. “I get that Mercer Island issues come first, but I think we also have to remember that we’re part of larger systems for transportation, education, recreation and economic development.”

Both were on the Town Center stakeholder group, and said that whatever new zoning and codes that come out of the process need to match the greater community vision.

Weiker said she would also address issues with public safety and aging infrastructure. She has been on the city’s Utility Board for six years, is a frequent community volunteer and applied for the Council vacancy in 2014.

Nice argued that the city’s level of service (LOS) standard should not be lowered from ‘C’ to ‘D’ – a change recommended by the city’s Planning Commission in 2014 during work on the Comprehensive Plan update.

The City Council decided to delay adoption of that plan until the conclusion of the Town Center visioning and development code revision, also postponing discussions of other outstanding issues in the plan, including the proposed LOS change.

Nice said he wanted to be involved in the next round of the growth allocations that are updated to comply with the state Growth Management Act (GMA). He said that Mercer Island, as a city with finite land and no way to annex or expand, “can’t be painted with same brush” as neighboring communities. He also criticized the current Council for not using the “tools in the GMA toolbox,” instead deferring to SEPA mitigation fees, which he said has resulted in lower revenues and “a lost opportunity.”

Weiker countered Nice’s viewpoint on growth, noting, “the GMA is here to stay and we have to do our part.”

“We can’t stop the bridges and we can’t stop people from moving here,” she said.

Both agreed that there are too many unknowns with MICA at the moment to allow the project to go forward without further Council scrutiny.

Nice said that he would support an advisory vote on the issue of whether or not public land should be given to a private group, as MICA is currently cited in Mercerdale Park. Weiker said that if the Council felt it had enough information to make a decision, an advisory vote would not be needed. She said that MICA has done its due diligence in looking for other locations and would support the conclusion that the park is the best place for the facility.

“An advisory vote allows us to take an issue and settle it among ourselves,” Nice said.

The next Beach Club forum is at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 13 and will feature candidates for Position No. 7: Traci Granbois and Debbie Bertlin. The forums are open to Beach Club members and guests.