“I’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback about my time on council,” said Bothell City Councilman Del Spivey, who is seeking his second term as a local legislator.

His challenger in the November election, Gerry Gawne, continues, however, to attack and criticize both Spivey and Bothell’s council in general.

Among other issues, Gawne charges that city spending is out of control and, just as he did in the primary, contends that Spivey and several other council members vote in lockstep with Mayor Mark Lamb.

Gawne said Bothell enjoys a nice balance of business and residential areas with one result being that tax revenues have been steady and even increased. But he added the current council quickly found ways to spend those revenues.

“There has been a phenomenal increase in city spending,” Gawne said. “I ask, ‘Who is minding the store?’”

“We are within our budget,” Spivey countered. He added there are some well-advertised major projects, such as the planned redevelopment of downtown, that have and will continue to demand large expenditures by the city.

But Spivey also insisted that council, with the help of city staff, has completed its due diligence on those projects every step of the way.

For example, he said the 18 acres of Northshore School District property that the city intends to buy clearly represents a major investment of city money. But Spivey also insists the purchase is an investment, one that will pay for itself when the city resells the land to developers. With that project and the overall downtown rebuilding in mind, Spivey said the next few years will be exciting ones for Bothell.

Moving beyond the budget, Gawne said block voting has hurt the city in several ways, limiting debate and leading to, among other problems, what he contends are the city’s current budget issues, again, most notably, overspending.

“You get reduced discussion and silly things can happen,” Gawne said.

As he did during the primary, Spivey dismissed the idea of block voting, arguing any perception of block voting results from a group of philosophically like-minded people sitting on council. He said any time a group of politicians tends to think alike, they could be accused of block voting.

Spivey also said the very concept of block voting implies predetermined voting or preordained decision making. He said current council members do not get together to discuss votes ahead of time, pointing out that among other issues, such discussions would violate Washington’s open-meeting laws.

Gawne further attacked Spivey for what he said was the incumbent’s poor attendance record at council meetings. He claimed Spivey missed some key votes on the very downtown project the incumbent has been touting as a huge benefit for Bothell.

“Have I missed meetings? Yes, I have,” Spivey said, adding his job as a firefighter demands he works long shifts and missing some council meetings has been necessary. “But I don’t know that has made me less effective at my (council) job.”

Spivey also argued he has changed work shifts and given up personal vacation time (which, he claimed, means less time for him to spend with his family) in order to attend meetings. He said he doesn’t believe his choice of profession should prevent from serving in public office.

“Anybody should be able to hold office, as long they can get the votes,” Spivey said.

Springing up in the primary, one other issue remains contentious between Gawne and Spivey. Once more going on the attack, Gawne accused Spivey and the current council of voting to give themselves what he termed a 250 percent pay raise in the form of health benefits offered not only to council members, but also their families.

Since the primary, Spivey has responded, noting that he pushed for creation of a citizens commission to study council pay and benefits. He further contended he never received the benefits Gawne mentioned and said, at present, no council member receives those benefits.

In the end, Spivey said he hasn’t heard Gawne talk much about the future of Bothell. He said it’s easy to criticize but contended at some point, critics have to offer solutions to perceived problems.

“I’m disappointed some people can’t see the huge opportunity that is out there,” he said.

For his part, Gawne said he supports the rebuilding of downtown, but has added he doesn’t want the city to mortgage its future. He recently expressed reservations over even the potential for a downtown parking structure near Pop Keeney Field.

On another front, he referred to the currently closed Northshore Pool as an “orphan.”

He quickly added he is somewhat new to the pool issue, and while Gawne said the facility is expensive to run, if the city can find a way to maintain it, he would support such a move.

At 46, Spivey is a Bellevue firefighter.

At 67, with a background in TV and radio production, Gawne operates his own media company.