Editorial: Puyallup council isn’t as split as it often appears

For the past six months, it has seemed like every Puyallup City Council meeting has been packed with controversy. It was perhaps predictable there would be some tension from time to time considering the strong personalities of the people who lead this community.

It started with the appointment of Councilmember Rick Hansen, who now fills Councilmember Kathy Turner’s spot, and was followed quickly over debate regarding the construction of a bandstand in Pioneer Park. Of course there is also the Sounder parking situation which has caused quite the stir both in Puyallup and Sumner.

The times when the council has agreed, though, have slipped under the radar — and those are far more frequent than the times fraught with argument. A Herald audit of the council’s voting history for the past six months, found on today’s front page, shows that 63 percent of the time, the Puyallup City Council has been in total agreement.

Of course, the group will be serving together for another 18 months and during that time will tackle many tough issues but this is a good beginning.

There were some results of the audit that weren’t surprising at all. For Councilmember John Knutsen, who came in saying he wanted to shake things up, those 55 unanimous votes were the only times he saw things eye-to-eye with Turner. He also happened to be the councilmember who was in the minority the most frequently.

Other results are bound to surprise even the councilmembers themselves.

The trio — Knutsen, Hansen and Deputy Mayor George Dill — who have the reputation of consistently finding themselves in the minority together the most really aren’t. Individually they have gone against the grain many times and on several occasions two of them have been the odd men out but only twice have all three voted together in the minority. Additionally, Hansen has voted the same as Turner more frequently than his comrade Knutsen.

Mostly, though, the audit shows that the council is agreement more often than not. That’s something to keep in mind as they move forward.