With the 2014 election still clearly visible in the rear-view mirror, one candidate already has thrown his name into the hat to be the mayor of Aberdeen, warming up the path leading to the 2016 election.
Edward Stanaway of Aberdeen already has begun the filing process with the state Public Disclosure Commission, the first candidate to do so for the Aberdeen position.
“When I heard that the current mayor (Bill Simpson) ran unopposed in the last election, I thought, ‘Why is that?’” Stanaway said. “It was something that struck me — I thought, ‘I should do this.’”
Incumbent Mayor Simpson said on Tuesday he had not yet decided if he will seek re-election in 2016.
Stanaway is a 37-year-old transplant from Oakland, Calif. He has lived on the Harbor for about a year. Although it’s a non-partisan office, Stanaway says he is a Libertarian.
At the forefront of his platform, he said, is business, not just getting business to the harbor, but diversifying industry as well.
“Business inspires the youth. Business brings back the bottom line. Business helps people maintain their homes,” Stanaway said. “Overall, it’s the answer to making Aberdeen the place people want it to be.”
The low cost of living and low cost of doing business in Aberdeen make it appealing to both the current industries doing business on the Harbor and innovative industries looking for a home, he said.
“I’m looking to change the paradigm of how people are thinking,” Stanaway said. “We can turn Grays Harbor into a place for innovators working in software, medicine and film — Aberdeen has the space to do it and the opportunity to press that market and agenda, and improve the economic opportunity for the town itself.”
Young people hold a special place in Stanaway’s campaign, he said. “My goal is to try to engage more of the youth. People are really concerned about you up until you turn 18, and again when you’re 30 and working here, but people aren’t concerned when someone is in their 20s — they’re kind of forgotten.”
Asked why he chose to run for mayor in his first local campaign, as opposed to city council, he said he didn’t run for council because he worried his message would be lost on his district, Ward 3 (East Aberdeen, west of the Wishkah River). “My district is older and less open to some of my changes,” Stanaway said.
When interviewed for this story the candidate had pink hair and was wearing boots and a tie. A film crew sat in on the interview, filming for a documentary about his campaign, tentatively entitled “Punk Rock Mayor.”
Stanaway has never run for office.
“The closest I ever came was meeting Ross Perot in 1991 when I was 13 or 14 years old,” he said.
He had been politically active then, knocking on doors for the presidential hopeful. The local news caught wind, covered it, and Perot set up a meeting with the young Stanaway, he says.
Stanaway has worked with East Bay Community Recovery Project for more than 5 years. The agency provides substance abuse, mental health and other health services. Stanaway does software design, quality control, business planning and HIPAA compliance work for the agency.
Still nearly two years from the election, Stanaway is moving forward with his campaign, working from what he’s seen in California, where innovators have changed the landscape of industry, and looking to lead the city into a hopeful future.
“The changes I’ve seen in West Oakland could happen in Aberdeen,” Stanaway said. “The only issue I see is the political leadership not knowing which way to turn to make that happen.”
Stanaway’s campaign page is available on Facebook, “Edward Stanaway for Mayor.”
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