Boudreau faces two challengers for his Longview City Council seat

Eventual outcome of battle for council position 7 could shake up balance of power on the council

The story has been corrected: Spencer Boudreau had an insurance license,not a real estate license .

This is the third and final installment of a series of question-and-answer stories featuring candidates for three Longview City Council seats up for election this year.

Today’s story focuses on candidates for council position 7, which is now held by first-term incumbent Spencer Boudreau. Boudreau faces a re-election challenge from labor leader Wayne Nichols and businesswoman Marianne Chambers.

Stories about the candidates for council positions 5 and 6 ran Monday and Tuesday. As always, all Lower Columbia Currents stories are archived and accessible by going to andrestepankowsky@substack.com.

As noted earlier, the race for council position 7 would disrupt the balance of power on the council if Boudreau loses his bid for a second four-year term.

Although council seats are officially nonpartisan, Boudreau is part of a four-member, libertarian-leaning conservative majority. That bloc fired City Manager Kris Swanson without cause in 2024, tried to remove cavity-fighting fluoride from city water, and took actions that generated conflict, a potentially costly lawsuit and a major shakeup in administrative leadership.

The current council chose Boudreau as mayor shortly after stepping into office in January last year. Longview voters do not elect the mayor. As a candidate, Boudreau is running to retain his council seat, not his mayoral appointment. The next council could choose someone else to be the mayor.

Boudreau’s three council allies —Erik Halvorson, Kalei LaFave and Keith Young — do not stand for re-election this year.

Boudreau, the city’s youngest-ever mayor, relishes the role, even though progressives complain that he has allowed his conservative bloc to distract the city from more important business.

Ballots for the “top 2” primary were mailed to voters on Thursday. Voters must return them by Aug. 5 for them to be valid. Ballots can be mailed back or placed in a ballot drop box. A list of drop box locations is available at www.co.cowlitz.wa.us/2522/Ballot-Drop-Boxes.

The top two vote-getters in the primary will face off in the November general election.

The online Cowlitz County voters guide includes statements from candidates in primary races. It is available at www.co.cowlitz.wa.us/DocumentCenter/View/35184/P125-Cowlitz-Local-Voters-Pamphlet.Spencer.

Spencer C. Boudreau

Age: 25

Education: Graduated from Mark Morris High School

Employment: Property Manager and feasibility investigator; former licensed insurance agent

Personal: Divorced, two children

Civic involvements: Four years on the Longview City Council; 4 years on the Longview Parks Board; four years on the Port of Longview's Willow Grove Park Board; recipient of the Pathways 2020 Citizen of the Year for Community Engagement; Longview Pioneer Lions member since 2023; former volunteer with United Way, Longview Downtowners, Go 4th Committee

Major endorsements: Voted Best Elected Official by TDN readers in 2022, 2023, and 2024; has not sought or received major endorsements this election cycle.

Campaign website: Still under construction

Marianne Chambers

Age: 58

Education: Bachelor’s degree Gonzaga University 1990

Employment: Starting floristry businerss; formerly employed at Longview Fibre Co.; formerly worked in marketing and advertising at The Daily News

Personal: Single no kids

Civic involvements: Head coach for boys 7th and 8th grade basketball at Seattle & Portland Community Centers; Head Track & Field Coach 1st-8th grade at Queen Anne Community Center; treasurer and chair of sponsorship and marketplace for the Go 4th Festival; vice chair for Longview Park & Recreation Board; an organizer of the inaugural Cardboard Boat Regatta; member of Altrusa

Major endorsements: Has not sought any

Campaign web page: : Facebook — marianne4longview

Name: Wayne Nichols

Age: 69

Education: R.A. Long High School, Associate Arts degree from LCC

Employment: 41 Years Weyerhaeuser Pulp

Personal: Married, three adult children

Civic involvement: 35-year labor-leader, specializing in contract negotiation and conflict resolution; Volunteer firefighter/EMT, and EMT instructor.; credit union board member; CASA (Court-appointed Special Advocate) volunteer; involved in community theater and youth sports.

Major endorsements: The United Food Commercial Workers local 555; International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers local 48; former Longview mayor/current Councilwoman MaryAlice Wallis

Campaign web page: wayne4longview@gmail.com

1. Why do you believe you are the best person for the council position you seek, and why should voters consider you superior to your opponents?

Wayne Nichols: My 41-year working career coupled with an extensive body of volunteer work makes me uniquely qualified to sit on the Longview City Council, because actual experience matters. I am a level-headed problem-solver, and have the maturity, experience and judgment to address Longview's many challenges. I also have the wisdom to make decisions based on what is good for all Longview residents as opposed to one narrow political faction or another.

Marianne Chambers: Longview is facing real challenges: affordable housing, rising taxes, job growth, and homelessness are among them. What sets me apart is my commitment to practical, solution-focused leadership. I’ll bring a collaborative, respectful approach to council work, ensuring we stay focused on results, not division. Voters can count on me to listen first, lead with common sense, and work with others to achieve goals for our city. My entire career has been about team work and succeeding. I don't believe there is anyone running for council that has the successful experience I have.

Spencer Boudreau: I've been a proven advocate for our city, its neighborhoods, and our people. We had voter approval to hire additional patrol officers for the first time in our city's history. We held a comprehensive search and vetting process for a permanent city manager. We've passed policy to make it easier to build new housing, streamlined permitting processes and costs, and provided a balanced budget without significantly impacting day-to-day operations. I secured nearly $5 million in funding for projects like the dedicated fill line, Columbia Heights Road, and new first responder radios.

2. The city council has become increasingly partisan and divided over the last several years. Please discuss how your skills, political outlook and character might improve or affect council relations.

Marianne Chambers: For over 30 years, I’ve worked in complex business environments where listening, collaboration, and accountability are essential to success. I believe city government should rise above partisanship. Council is supposed to be nonpartisan and my focus is on shared outcomes that are best for the whole community. My approach is rooted in respect and professionalism, not ideology. I’ll bring those values to the council and help steer the conversation toward what truly matters: serving the people of Longview.

Spencer Boudreau: The City Council has unnecessarily become partisan and divided. These issues we are handling are not partisan issues. Members of the public and local media have played into division and created this narrative that everything is one-side-versus-the-other, when that's not the case. Potholes don't care whether Democrats or Republicans have the votes.

Wayne Nichols: My 35 years as a union contract negotiator and labor/management conflict resolver taught me how to collaborate and find consensus in a wide variety of contentious situations. The ability to see issues from a variety of perspectives and craft actual workable solutions comes when one is able to truly look at issues from a stance of non- partisanship. My mostly centrist political views and even-handed, calm demeanor will serve well in our increasingly polarized political climate.

3. It is clear that the city needs to expand its business and industrial tax base, both to ease the tax burden on individuals, shore up city finances and improve its quality of life. What further, concrete steps can it take to improve the community's economic prosperity?

Spencer Boudreau: For too long our city leadership seemed to be playing this game of reactionary catch-up. Too much room was given to anti-business advocates to push new job creating businesses away, and we now have a very business friendly set of leaders on our council. I've been very clear that I will not be choosy and picky about what businesses locate here because we are purpose-built for industry.

Wayne Nichols: We accomplish economic expansion by continuing to make Longview as attractive to prospective businesses as possible. This includes actions such as maintaining infrastructure, emergency systems, parks, libraries, and schools to support Longview's exceptionally high quality of life. We need to lobby our state legislators to focus more on small town economic development as opposed to just the big cities. There may also be zoning and permitting process adjustment opportunities that may help.

Marianne Chambers: Cities that grow their economies do a few things very well. They have clear goals, build strong public/private partnerships, maintain reliable infrastructure, streamline permitting, and invest in workforce readiness. Longview can do the same by working closely with the CEDC and by collaborating with regional and state economic development partners. With a clear strategy and consistent leadership, we can make Longview a place where businesses want to grow and invest.

4. The city is in a financial pinch, with projections showing it will deplete its entire general fund cash reserve by late this decade. Parks and utilities all have big maintenance backlogs. What approach to these challenges do you advocate? If you say more cuts are needed, please be specific as possible. If taxes must rise, which ones, and how much?

Wayne Nichols: The city cut 10% from every department’s budget last year, and we lost 15 good employees. There is really not anything left to cut, without degrading essential services such as fire and police response, EMS and infrastructure quality. Municipalities are affected by inflation just like we are as individuals. We must find ways to increase our tax base, to avoid levying higher taxes on individuals. This means attracting more business and industry to Longview.

Marianne Chambers: The city has already taken some important steps to stabilize the budget, but more will be required. Moving forward, we need to keep evaluating programs for cost effectiveness, prioritize essential services, and avoid kicking maintenance down the road. My business background helps me spot where savings can be found without compromising core services. Maintaining a healthy cash reserve is critical to protecting core services for our residents when times get tough — and I’ll work to ensure we manage our resources wisely.

Spencer Boudreau: I've been clear that we should focus on two options regarding our parks facilities: We need to prioritize efficiency and use any funding opportunities to replace aging and obsolete equipment that costs too much to repair. This means not seeking expansion of what we have at every opportunity, but fixing what's already here. I just proposed shifting funds previously approved for the golf course building to smaller parks projects from the deferred maintenance list because the County will pay for repairs at the golf course building. Staff has also been working on inventory and assessment of city owned properties and assets as well. Our skilled staff, led by City manager Jen Wills, is doing a fantastic job with Council direction on these issues already.

5. Hope Village has helped substantially improve the homeless situation, but some members of the council want it to become largely self-sustaining. The council is seeking bids for a new operator to replace the Salvation Army in hopes of accomplishing that. Is that goal realistic? Should the city continue paying for Hope Village if a new operator cannot ease the financial burden on the city? Do you think it's at least partially the city's job to care for and rehabilitate the homeless?

Marianne Chambers: Hope Village has played a meaningful role in stabilizing the homeless situation, and I applaud the combined efforts of the city, Salvation Army and the Longview Police Department. The idea of a self- sustaining operation is admirable, but realistically, it will likely still require some public support. The city has a role to play in addressing homelessness — ensuring our community remains safe, clean, and humane place for everyone. If we can find operational efficiencies or partnerships to reduce the cost burden, we should pursue them — but abandoning progress does not make sense.

Spencer Boudreau: I think it's bad business and not intellectually honest to assume and perpetuate that there's this huge risk of not finding a contractor. Clearly there is money to be made from homeless services. If there wasn't then we wouldn't already have so many service providers here. It's vital that a contractor be able to bill for services for at least some of the operating costs because if not, I don't think your readers would want any council to have to choose between funding the library or funding Hope Village.

Wayne Nichols: Hope Village is just one tool in our quest to help folks become viable self-sufficient members of society and boasts a pretty decent success rate. The manner in which the bidding process for new operators was written does not give me a lot of confidence that a self-sustaining model will be the result. We need to find results-based solutions because we will ultimately be paying for this issue one way or another, regardless.

6. If you want to, briefly discuss any further priorities you would bring to the council.

Spencer Boudreau: I'm the only one running who has done this job. Others running lack the on-the-job experience and track record as an advocate for our city. I'm the only one running who has a plan for addressing water quality issues through infrastructure improvements without just raising rates. I'm seeking to bond out and grant fund half of the dedicated reservoir fill line cost so that the city can receive a zero-interest, 45-year-loan from the Environmental Protection Agency that costs us less annually than we currently pay for the water treatment plant's debt service. If we did this today, payments on the Federal loan wouldn't start until after the water plant is paid off already in 2030.

Neither Wayne Nichols nor Marianne Chambers addressed this.