A Washington business owner and 20-year Army veteran has announced his candidacy for Mayor of Tumwater.
Lance Brender will challenge city council member Leatta Dahlhoff in the race for the position being vacated by Mayor Debbie Sullivan at the end of the year.
Brender said in his announcement that Tumwater is everything that’s right about small town America. He said he’s running for mayor to keep Tumwater the first and best small town in Washington.
Brender retired this year from active duty as an armor officer in the U.S. Army, according to his campaign announcement. He deployed out of JBLM to Iraq in 2006, where he earned a Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. He also has served in Korea, Saudi Arabia, Japan and Taiwan.
He has been a full-time resident of Tumwater since 2017. He’s also the second-generation owner of his family’s pear orchard in Cashmere, and is the descendant of Cashmere’s first immigrant-settler family, according to his campaign announcement.
Brender has a bachelor’s degree from Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma and a master’s degree from the U.S. Command and General Staff College.
He’s also a local landlord, according to his campaign website, providing “affordable, high-quality housing to three families on both sides of the state. “
His campaign priorities include affordable housing and revitalizing defunct businesses and buildings in Tumwater.
“I’m particularly concerned about the cost of living,” he said. “My top goal is to stabilize the price of housing, focusing first on bringing back sites like the former Olympia Brewery as locally owned businesses that offer affordable places to live.”
Brender said he’s already been in contact with a local developer for such a project.
“I intend to do everything I can to bring structures like [the brewery] back to life for the benefit of the community,” he said.
He said he also will advocate for funding of police, fire and emergency services. He said Tumwater’s police department has a “great plan to increase school resource officers from two officers to four.”
“Now we need to fund it, as well as increase manning from 75%, where it is now,” Brender said.
His campaign announcement said Brender also places high emphasis on the environment and vulnerable wildlife.
With regard to new housing developments, he wants to double the minimum greenspace requirement from 10% to 20%, as well as put legal protections around the historic Davis-Meeker oak and similar old-growth trees.
Brender’s campaign logo is the Meeker-Davis oak tree, which he says is “more than just a tree. It’s a connection to our past and to the land, and a symbol of sustainable growth, unity, and everything that we value.”
As mayor, Brender said he would be committed to protecting the tree and other historic sites through city ordinance.
He begins the formal portion of his campaign with a kickoff party at 3 p.m. Saturday, April 5, at Flaming Pig BBQ in Tumwater. The public is welcome to attend.