Jim Lemon for Union Gap Mayor

Jim Lemon a Realtor with Exit Realty-Creative Group in Yakima Washington is running for Mayor of Union Gap. He has been serving the residents of Union Gap as the senior City Council Member and has been on the council for eight years! These are statements from an election flyer from Mr. Lemon:

My name is Jim Lemon, I am currently the longest serving Council member with 8 years experience serving Union Gap. I am committed to the citizens of Union Gap. I have decided not to seek re-election for Council because I believe I can accomplish more and protect our citizens more effectively as Mayor .

I believe that a Mayor's first commitment is to public service and it is not appropriate for Mayor Reeves to continue to demand a raise of at least $80,000 per year while blaming budget shortfalls to justify his request for future increases of up to 50% higher water and sewer charges

Open Communication: I believe in open communication. The Mayor is responsible for encouraging ideas that benefit us all. This position is also responsible for relaying information and working in conjunction with the City Council. As Mayor, I will be committed to inviting all opinions and openly discussing everyone's ideas and opinions. especially the residents. I have proven my commitment to this when I spoke out against Mayor Reeves ordering our Police Chief to remove a resident while she attempted to read a petition signed by 200 Union Gap residents at a council meeting in the fall of 2004. This action is only one of many times Mayor Reeves has attempted to stifle our citizen's voice.

Graffiti Is a Problem: I believe we should not be punishing the victims of graffiti. When a criminal defaces a property in Union Gap, the offender should be the one to clean and repair the damage. I will work closely with the Police Chief, Courts and Citizens Patrol to help enforce our laws and give assistance to our citizens in keeping our city clean and safe for all of us!

Stop the mayor's proposed 50% water and sewer rate Increases

Mayor Reeves hopes to achieve a 50% increase in both Water and Sewer rates in three years. Dan Olson pushed the recently passed 17% water and sewer increase in a two stage increase to be fully realized in less than 8 months (fully affective January 2008). Roger Wentz and I were the only Council Members to cast votes against this increase and proposed using our infrastructure fund and to allow smaller increases. Mayor Reeves refuses to use any sales tax revenue (infrastructure fund) to protect our rates, even though that is what it is for. We are paying higher rates to pay for the continued development and expansion. The growth our city is experiencing should be encouraged, but not on our residents' backs. I believe we can have both economic prosperity and minimize our water and sewer rate increases. I believe the residents have subsidized growth for too long!

I represent Families and Children: My wife and I have four young children, three attend Union Gap School. I was very disappointed when Mayor Reeves removed the Community Service Officer from our school in opposition to the council's request for this program to be maintained. This officer helps keep gangs out of our school and keeps our children safe.

Contact Jim at:

509-930-1371 or Ljim386@aol.com