SOAP LAKE - John Glassco is running for Soap Lake City Council position 1 because he wants to help his city onto a path of economic growth.

"We need to focus on a strong local economy so we don't lose any more people or businesses," he said.

For 21 years Glassco ran a successful local hazardous cleanup business. He is also a cofounder and board member of the Art Guild of the Soap Lake Area, the Soap Lake Conservancy and the Soap Lake/ Moses Lake/ Ephrata Chapter of the Ice Age Floods Institute.

"This experience shows my ability to plan for the future and to manage funds," he said.

His immediate goals for the position include preventing further cuts to police services and performing needed repairs to what he said is a crumbling sewer collection system.

"The city crew now responds day and night to emergency sewer repairs instead of regular business," he said. "How can the city get its financial house in order if unexpected emergencies, often requiring over-time, continue to draw needed resources away from regular tasks of all personnel?"

If elected, Glassco's financial priorities would center on getting value for money spent, assuring fairness to ratepayers for all costs and frugally managing city funds, all while maintaining full public disclosure.

The city council has to start working toward economic growth at once to avoid sudden cutting of needed services from the budget, Glassco said.

"Once we understand and rank needed expenses we must find the funds in a way that does not hurt what precious few resources still remain in the city of our dwindling tourist industry," he added.

Glassco believes the council should stop turning away long-established events and start promoting Soap Lake as a regional orientation center for local tourist attractions.

The Lava Lamp project has brought broad public attention to the city, but Glassco said the city's failure to follow through on the plan has resulted in little aside from years of talk.

"They either need to find a suitable partner or drop it entirely and let someone else try," he said. In past years the city council has had no plan for growth, Glassco said, resulting in a falling population while cities such as Quincy and Ephrata have progressed.

"These nearby cities have fewer economic problems simply because they have planned ahead and they have taken advantage of regional growth patterns," he said. "My goal for Soap Lake is to see the council guide the city to become a part of the regional economic picture rather than have them continue to ignore the whole issue of growth."