An article is not a substitute for what happens during a candidate’s forum. Reporters are used to writing about what was said, but what isn’t said, or questions that aren’t answered, also provide valuable insight. Which quotes are used and which aren’t make articles less than optimal. How people present themselves and their cadence also poses some challenges in terms of writing objectively. For that reason, I believe being in the milieu is the best source of information, followed by video, written transcriptions, and finally, an article.
The Twisp Valley Grange has posted a video of the forum. I recommend speeding up the playback speed (under settings in YouTube) if you are pressed for time. It will give you a good idea of the candidates themselves. To pique your interest, I have included excerpts from candidate’s responses to the questions read at the forum. This is not a replacement, of course, for everything that was said but is an attempt to get to the gist of their positions as well as to note any peculiarities. The order of candidates’ responses corresponds to the order in which they answered the question.
On taxes:
Engell: “I believe Washington state’s tax system is unfair. Taxation is inherently unfair. You’re never going to have the benefit go equally around but I believe the primary thing we need to focus on is reducing the size of the state government, reducing the taxes that need to be collected from the citizens.”
Abell: “Often when I hear the question about Washington State’s tax regime being unfair, often, in my experience, that’s a Trojan horse for the next question of would you favor a state income tax. My answer is, I would absolutely oppose a state income tax. Our lack of an income tax is a wealth creator in our state. We need to make sure we do not have an income tax in the State of Washington.”
Dean: “I’ve been on the road since last Sunday. I haven’t been home. I’m feeling the pinch of the gas taxes especially in these small rural areas I’ve been in and if I go to a big city, they’re almost 40 cents cheaper so I’m not really certain how that all works, so I am in favor of trying to figure out how we can lower the taxes…. I do believe that the wealthier should be paying their fair share and I’m in favor of however that looks on paper to get that initiated and put it into play.”
Ing-Moody: “The other side of the equation is important for me too, and that is how are we spending the tax money? I think that’s part of the conversation I really want to get into because it’s about effectiveness in what we’re spending the dollars on and is that working, and if it’s not, then maybe… make sure that the issues that we’re seeing, or the infrastructure or whatever it is we need to provide for our communities as services, that needs to be revisited as well.”
On climate change:
Abell: “I do not support the current regime as laid down by, or rather as adopted by the state legislature and signed into law by the governor to address climate change for a number of reasons. I do believe that our climate is changing. I absolutely do believe that, but I believe the efforts that have been passed by the legislature and signed into law by the governor have a disproportionate impact particularly on individuals who live here in this area. A good example is the gas tax that I already talked about and addressed. I also have concerns about whether or not, frankly, this effort that has been put into law is achievable even under the rosiest of scenarios that has been articulated by various law’s proponents. I don’t believe it’s achievable. I don’t think it’s going to work and I think it was a mistake by the legislature and the governor.”
Dean: “The carbon tax issue that I’ve just been reading about is, in my opinion, I’m not real certain how to read that. I’m not a lawyer. I get confused about that. I’m sure I’m not the only one. So, I am in favor that we need to do something about climate change, because, believe it or not, those of us that have been around long enough, we see it. We know it’s real…. I am in favor of trying to figure out how to fix it, I just don’t know how we’re going to get it done unless we start having conversations and working together from both sides of the aisle.”
Ing-Moody: “I do support efforts towards working on climate change but I also have to say, it matters how it’s done. It has to be impactful and, again, I think, it’s really about something we need to work bipartisan on to make sure that both eastern and western parts of the state are going to benefit from what it is that we can do and that we can actually implement them.”
Engell: “I have grave concerns with a lot of what we’ve done to try to [do about] climate change. It puts a huge negative impact on a lot of our rural communities without a clear benefit. I believe we need to focus on solutions that will make a difference. Sometimes, I think we’re better off focusing our efforts that are expensive on preparing our communities for adapting to a changing climate.”
Why do you identify with the party that you chose?
Dean: “I am running as a moderate Democrat. Everybody says it’s a bad thing to do but, I’ve been on both sides of the fence. Been in the union and been in the military, I’ve seen where both things are going…. Right now, I’m running as a moderate Democrat and I’m willing and I will step in the middle of the aisle and have the conversations across the aisle.”
Ing-Moody: “I do believe in limited government, small, and then free markets and then also caring for the least of us.”
Engell: “I’m a life-long Republican. I’ve been involved in helping write the platform for my Stevens County Republicans as well as been a delegate to the state Republican convention. So, I’m very well familiar with the platform…. Government should be closest to the people as possible, that the federal government, state government should be limited in scope to what is necessary to be done at those levels and that we should leave as much as possible to local control, closest to the people…. Connecting to that, low taxes, low regulations, allowing parents to have the right to educate their children the way they see fit and for local school board to direct those schools, to protect the Second Amendment and hold the government accountable to the people.”
Abell: “I’m running as a conservative Republican, and I am a conservative Republican…. I think there’s broad recognition in the country that whether you’re a Republican or Democrat, we need to change how we talk with one another about politics in this nation. We need to commit to restoring civility in our political discourse and that’s something I’m very much dedicated to. I’m not going to check my principles at the door but I will strive in the course of advocating for my principles to ensure that I disagree without being disagreeable.”
On abortion:
Ing-Moody: “I have not had to make this very difficult decision but as a Christian, I can say I do know people who are very close to me who had to make that decision and I watched them. It’s a struggle, and for that reason, I have to say, I do support their choice even though it’s not mine.”
Engell: “As a Christian, I believe life begins at conception and that taking the life of an unborn child is an act of murder. I believe in the State of Washington, this is unlikely to change. I don’t believe there will be an opportunity for me to change this, but I am a pro-life Republican, and I will be focusing first, I’d like to see us stop using state funds to fund abortions and I would like to see us stop forcing public hospitals to provide abortion services.”
Abell: “I’m very strongly pro-life. I am pro-life including in situations, those horrific situations of rape or incest because I believe life begins at conception.”
Dean: “I am pro-life, and that is my belief. I do believe that abortion is to be a discussion between a woman and her doctor. If it’s available and she decides to do that, there shouldn’t be any criticism to it.”
On education:
Engell: “I support all sorts of options to give parents the options and not mandates. I’m interested in looking at this whole situation but I know that our education funding could be better done than it is now.”
Abell: “Education is the paramount duty of the state so how we spend those dollars is vitally important. Significant increase in education spending has taken place over the course of the last decade, particularly in light of the McCleary litigation. So, I think the question for the legislature should be, how are those dollars being spent? Are there areas where they can be spent more wisely?”
Dean: “So with the rural areas, a caveat on that last part of yours, is that we need to figure out a way to keep our teachers enticed with the schools they can go and work at. Springdale, Washington has a very small footprint, but they go through teachers like nothing else…. So, the money needs to be put back into the schools, fully funded, and that should include our teachers, just like how we were when we were kids growing up.”
Ing-Moody: “Education is really complicated and complex for a couple of reasons. There are many line items in the budget for the educational component…. One, infrastructure. That’s a huge issue for our schools, no matter where we are in the State of Washington. Right now, we depend a lot on levies to raise those funds… for those capital improvements and our aging infrastructure. That’s an issue. That’s got to change, especially in rural areas where the tax base is so low. However, there’s an operational cost to schools, too, as we know. Right now, teachers, innovation of our technology is changing the face of what education needs to look like to prepare our students for the future. That innovation is needing to, obviously, having the teachers be trained as well…. In addition, the supplies for the students and everything else, that is being obviously not met. So, there are many components, and I think we need to look at it comprehensively.”
On capital gains:
Abell: “I would support the effort to repeal the state capital gains tax…. I’m a constitutionally conservative attorney, which means I take our state constitution seriously. I have grave concerns about the constitutionality of the capital gains tax as passed by the legislature. I recognize that our state Supreme Court has upheld it so people at a higher pay grade than I have said it can stand but that’s the first thing that I would lay out there- I have real concerns about whether or not, when it was passed, it passed constitutional muster. The second thing is I have concerns about how the money will ultimately be used.”
Dean: “I am not in favor of repealing it simply because, by reading what I read up on it, over the next 5 years, if it’s repealed, we will lose another $1.3 billion that should have been allotted for our schools and that should be helping our children. So, if we start repealing all these things that are taking money in different areas away from the schools, I’m definitely not in favor of that.”
Ing-Moody: “I’m not very familiar with this particular one. It’s been considered to be an excise tax and so there has been conversation on that. I would personally like to learn a little bit more about it. It is on your ballots right now and I actually would like to hear what people have to say. That is what is important to me at this point.”
Engell: “I strongly support this initiative as well as the other three that will be on the ballot and I believe the majority of people in this district are going to feel the same way. We’ll find out in about three weeks.”
On military style assault weapons and mass shootings:
Dean: “Being in the military for so long, it’s not an assault rifle. It’s a military-grade rifle. If you need to have a weapon, like an AR-15, for your own house, that’s your decision. That’s part of the Second Amendment and I am pro-gun…. As far as limiting mass shootings, school shootings, I think that’s going to have to come as a conglomerated effort amongst state legislators, state entities, and federal entities because I don’t know how we’re going to tackle that unless everybody wants to take away guns, and we know that guns are here to stay.”
Ing-Moody: “I am a gun owner. I do believe the Constitution upholding that and Second Amendment rights. However, I think on the issue that we’re talking about right here, right now, is really about assault and mental health and what that means. I think we need to have a little bit more emphasis on, personally, on the mental health component which makes this a threat, period.”
Engell: “I don’t know that it is easy to acquire military grade assault rifles in Washington State. Those have been banned. And high capacity magazines, I would support repealing that and going to back to the way it was a few years ago, should I have the chance. As for schools, I believe we need more resource officers in schools to protect our youth, I have a number of ideas on how we can utilize existing professional law enforcement in communities that are already existing that could perhaps rotate through schools, occasionally, and help provide a presence. I think there are a lot of benefits that come from that. Also, as Soo said, behavioral and mental health treatment options and therapists are needed. I believe mental health is a major driver of these tragic incidents.”
Abell: “I’m a strong supporter of the Second Amendment. In light of that, with regard to the question, I would support increased funding and measures for school security in some of our larger urban areas to provide for increased security if necessary. The sad reality is that there is a significant mental health component to these situations, but the very factual reality is that, in many cases, the only way to stop a bad actor with a gun is a good actor with a gun. So, that’s my position.”
To view the entire video of the forum at the Twisp Valley Grange, visit https://www.twispvalleygrange.org/new-page-35
