With ballots due back to the appropriate county by Nov. 3, local voters will be deciding six total races on the Bothell and Kenmore city councils.

For whatever reason, some races have been nothing but quiet, while others have become nothing but contentious. The following are a few highlights of some of the issues that have arisen and a roundup of the various races.

Bothell City Council

Voters will decide four expiring seats. One issue has been raised repeatedly by several challengers to the four incumbents, namely the health-care coverage council granted themselves awhile back. Every council member has since rejected the coverage, but critics charge some legislators only turned down the benefit package after it began attracting negative publicity.

Guinn v. Agnew

Facing a challenge from resident Tom Agnew, Deputy Mayor Sandy Guinn particularly has come under fire for the health-care issue. In response to her critics, Guinn first pointed out that council’s pay remained the same $500 per month for at least 10 years until 2008.

At that point, Guinn said some council members wanted to vote legislators a raise, others wanted health insurance. She noted the debate took place in an open council meeting.

Eventually, the issue went to a citizen’s committee that suggested rejecting the health-care package and giving councilmembers a raise, unless members were willing to pay for insurance coverage. Bothell councilmembers now make $750 a month, with that figure jumping to $900 next year. The city’s mayor will take home $1,100 a month.

Guinn once more said she dropped the health-care coverage early this year, prior to any recommendation of the citizen’s committee.

For his part, in interviews and in e-mails, Agnew has described the health-care package as putting council before residents and pointed out several times Guinn voted in favor of the benefits.

Still, Agnew’s biggest concern revolves around how he sees the city charging for ambulance service, potentially making residents, particularly senior citizens, hesitant to call 911 out of fear of receiving a bill.

Guinn countered the city does not charge residents for emergency response in life-threatening situations or for discretionary ambulance service to Evergreen or Stevens hospitals.

Ewing v. Armenta

Jennifer Armenta came under attack from one local activist for a couple of alleged campaign violations, the first involving supposedly missing or untimely filing of campaign reports. She also was blasted for using Blyth Park for what was termed a campaign rally.

State officials who handle the inquiry or complaint filings did not return a phone call.

None of the complaints came from incumbent challenger Patrick Ewing, though, according to Armenta, the resident filing the challenges contributed to Ewing’s campaign.

Armenta said she was contacted by state officials in response to what she called campaign inquiries and was asked to amend one report. Beyond that, she maintained her campaign is running as it should and she termed attacking her for using Blyth Park as “scraping the bottom of the barrel.”

While Armenta said she did not have a permit for the gathering, she claimed she didn’t need one. She said the so-called “campaign rally” was a small barbecue for about eight supporters. In the end, Armenta said she was “flattered” by the attention, her feeling being Ewing’s campaign is starting to worry.

“I just really would like us to focus on what the real issues are,” she said.

According to Ewing, one of those issues is fighting against what he called a majority block on council, one “that’s not moving in the direction the community wants.”

“Frankly, Mr. Ewing seems more and more polarized,” Armenta said, arguing Ewing often takes a stand on council, but only rarely sways the rest of that body.

Freed v. Wojcik

For the most part, one of the quieter races pits incumbent Joshua Freed against Planning Commission member Joyce Wojcik. Downtown development is on both their minds.

Freed said he served on the citizens committee that first studied and ultimately recommended the realignment of state routes 527 and 522 along with Main Street, that rebuilding now being a cornerstone of the city’s overall redevelopment strategy.

“I love the creative process,” Freed said. “I really want to see that all implemented.”

Wojcik also said she played a role in shaping the downtown plan as a member of the Planning Commission. But she expressed concern that some of the original goals of the project had been lost in the translation between the Planning Commission and council. Wojcik was most worried about what she characterized as the loss of some safeguards that had been put in place in the so-called transition zones between planned for new development and existing residential neighborhoods.

“It’s mostly a quality-of-life issue,” she said. “We need to protect those residential zones as development moves forward.”

Spivey v. Gawne

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

Challenger Gerry Gawne has attacked and criticized both Spivey and Bothell’s council in general. Among other issues, Gawne charges that city spending is out of control and — in tune with Ewing — contends that Spivey and several other councilmembers vote in lockstep with Mayor Mark Lamb.

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

Spivey countered that the city is within its current budget even though there are some large price tags attached to major capital improvement projects such as the revamping of downtown. He further dismissed the idea of block voting, arguing any perception of block voting comes 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.