I’ve lived in South Kitsap since moving here from South Florida in 1975. I started my business in 1979, and lived on Long Lake about nine years before moving to Manchester in 1986. I moved into the city early last year and have since purchased a residence.

Why do I want to be mayor?

Frankly, I’m worried about the future of the city and what it means for my business, the long-term safety of my family, but most of all, what it means for the future of my 3-year old grandson Bryce, whom Dee and I are raising.

I want Bryce to want to come home to Port Orchard when he graduates from college. But there needs to be family wage jobs available for him, and affordable housing. This needs to be a safe place for him to live and to raise his family. None of that exists today.

Quite frankly, I don’t see anyone else stepping up that has the unbridled passion about the future that I do.

The mayor’s race is non-partisan, and I’ve been extremely encouraged by the high level of bipartisan support I’ve received since I began sharing my intentions with people about a year ago. Since announcing publicly a couple of weeks ago, that support has blossomed with endorsements across the political spectrum from groups as diverse as the traditionally Democratic Kitsap County Central Labor Council, Retired Government Employees of Kitsap, and Olympic Peninsula Building Trades Council, to high-profile Republicans like Dino Rossi, Ralph Munro, and Commissioner Jan Angel.

My goal is for Port Orchard to become the safest city in Washington to live, raise your family, work, and own a business.

Without going into a lot of detail, we’re raising Bryce as a result of the city’s drug and crime problem. In spite of the Port Orchard Police Department doing a great job with its very limited resources, in recent years we’ve gone from having one of the lowest crime rates for cities our size, to 6th highest in the state for violent crime. For Port Orchard to have a higher per capita violent crime rate than Seattle, I believe is simply unacceptable.

I’d like to implement new ideas such as using the RICO statute to encourage building owners not to allow drug activity on their properties, as well as Police Chief Al Townsend’s suggestion to adopt a crime-free multi-housing ordinance similar to the one being used very successfully in Lakewood and Tacoma.

On the business front, it’s been proven lowering crime rates positively impacts a city’s ability to attract families and new businesses to the community. Putting more cops on the street will not only reduce our crime rate, but spur economic development as well.

It only takes a walk down Bay Street to realize what needs to improve in Port Orchard. Developers are lining up to buy downtown buildings and redevelop the last, reasonably priced waterfront in the Puget Sound region. Residents are understandably concerned, yet many don’t realize development doesn’t cause growth, but is the response to consumer demand.

Whether we like or not, change is inevitable. Responsibly managing that change within the narrow confines of the state’s Growth Management Act (GMA) is our key challenge. However, we’re only going to have one opportunity to get it right!

The GMA mandates accepting taller buildings and mixed-use redevelopment as a way to keep the expanding population within the confines of the Urban Growth Areas. Quality development along Bay Street of retail and shops at street level, with a variety of living spaces above, will help retain our small-town ambiance, while complying with the GMA and meeting the housing needs of a growing population.

As Bremerton has proven, urban parks make cities much more livable, and a more enticing place for business. I’d like to create desirable amenities by increasing the size of the existing park between the waterfront and Bay Street and expanding the Boardwalk from downtown to the Annapolis ferry terminal, as well as explore the possibility of building a conveniently located parking garage with a walkway to the downtown waterfront.

Also on my “To Do” list is upgrading the city’s Web site to make it possible to pay city bills (water, traffic fines, etc.) online. Interactive crime mapping and on-line reporting tools are available for municipal websites so citizens can report minor crimes. These also track where sex offenders are located and allow citizens easy access to this information.

There are a lot of other things I want to accomplish, but this isn’t meant to be a full-blown campaign piece. If you want to know more, visit www.electlary.com.

However, after writing this column for more than 19 years, I’m going to take a sabbatical during the campaign. I believe it would be inappropriate to continue to observe and comment upon local politics while running for office.

Beginning next issue, we will publish provocative guest editorials in this space for the duration of the campaign. The guest editorials will continue until the election is decided.

As you know, Senator Bob Oke passed away May 14. I admired Bob, and will always remember salmon fishing with him and friends Bill Parnell and Bill Hilton, when the three of us were convinced Hilton was going to blow his boat apart — again — only this time, with us in it.

But perhaps Gov. Gregoire put Bob’s contributions into the proper perspective at his memorial service, saying, “Bob came to the Legislature dedicated to the people he served. He was concerned first and foremost about what was the right policy, not what was the right politics.”

In the highly polarized political atmosphere that exists today, Bob’s brand of true statesmanship will be missed, and should serve as a shining example for all elected officials of what the term “public service” actually means.