West Seattle residents are represented in the Washington State Legislature by one senator, Sen. Erik Poulsen, and two members of the House of Representatives, Rep. Eileen Cody and Rep. Joe McDermott. All three are Democrats.

Those three people represent the 34th Legislative District, which includes Burien and Vashon Island in addition to West Seattle and White Center.

Each has a Republican challenger on Election Day coming up Tuesday, Nov. 7. Sen. Poulsen faces Republican Paul Byrne. Rep. Cody is being challenged by James K. Nickerson while Rep. McDermott is running against Savun Neang.

Senate - 34th District

Republican Paul Byrne from Vashon Island is challenging incumbent Sen. Erik Poulsen.

Byrne did not respond to phone calls or e-mail messages from Robinson Newspapers seeking his views on the issues.

In the Washington Voters' Pamphlet, Byrne criticized Democrats for spending five years to come up with the cut-and-cover tunnel proposal to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct. Byrne wrote that a tunnel is too expensive and plans for construction too far in the future.

"We neither can afford it nor can wait that long," he wrote.

Byrne also stated in the Voters' Pamphlet that crime and school dropout rates are on the rise with Democrats in control of the Legislature.

He also thinks King County voters should not have to approve a special tax to provide money for the county's automated fingerprint identification system.

"This should have been funded by the state for the whole state," Byrne wrote.

Sen. Erik Poulsen, the Democrat incumbent, suggests the Washington State Department of Transportation, the city of Seattle and King County be required to coordinate and pay for a solution to the Alaskan Way Viaduct problem. Poulsen serves as vice chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee.

He further would require a solution to the I-5 bottleneck at the eastern end of the Spokane Street Viaduct, including new on ramps to I-5 and downtown.

The solution also should include year-round and more frequent water taxi service, he said.

Poulsen called for dedicated transit routes leading onto the West Seattle Bridge as well as the lower Spokane Street Bridge.

Also in the transportation vein, Poulsen said he opposes toll booths on the Alaskan Way Viaduct if there aren't also tolls on the 520 Bridge and Interstate 90.

"West Seattleites shouldn't have to pay extra to enter our own city where we pay taxes while people in Mercer Island, Bellevue and elsewhere drive in on 520 and I-90 for free," Poulsen wrote in his response.

The state should work more closely with local government to provide more transportation choices, such as water taxis, no-car ferries, rail lines, buses and bicycle facilities

A proponent of alternative energy, Poulsen is chairman of the Senate Water, Energy and Environment Committee. He promotes solar power, wind power and biofuels made from crops grown in Washington.

"We must do more to end our dependence on foreign oil and fossil fuels," he said.

He passed the first green building law in the nation requiring facilities built with state money be more efficient in the use of energy and water. Next he wants to require certain appliances meet higher efficiency standards.

The state needs a carrot-and-stick approach to lower emissions from cars, trucks, power plants and other sources of pollution, Poulsen wrote.

House of Representatives - 34th District, Position No. 1

Republican James K. Nickerson, a Highland Park resident, is running against Rep. Eileen Cody. Nickerson did not respond to phone calls or e-mails from Robinson Newspapers asking him to share his views on the issues.

His statement in the Voters' Pamphlet opposes building a tunnel to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct. He called the project "a $4.63 billion beautification project."

The cost of moving all of the electrical, water, telephone and gas lines to build such a tunnel would increase utility fees, he stated. He estimated construction would take 11 years and that's longer than many industrial and marine businesses, which rely on the viaduct, can survive without it

Rep. Eileen Cody, a Democrat and registered nurse, is chairwoman of the House Health Care Committee. In August, she was appointed to the Governor Christine Gregoire's Blue Ribbon Commission on Health Care Costs and Access.

Cody said the commission is studying how other states are dealing with health care. So far, she is interested in one called a connector program. Currently businesses get tax breaks when they buy health care programs for their employees. The connector program gives the same tax breaks to individual people, Cody said.

The connector program also lets people get health care from more than one employer at a time. It's for people who work multiple part-time jobs.

House of Representatives - 34th District, Position No. 2

Republican Savun Neang is a White Center businessman who immigrated from Cambodia, where he lost 73 relatives at the hands of the Communist Khmer Rouge. His experiences made him want tougher laws against illegal immigrants.

He describes illegal immigrants as anyone who overstayed their visa or entered the U.S. illegally.

Neang opposes state spending for illegal immigrants and claims Washington spends $549 million a year on education and $75 million on medical care for illegal immigrants. The state spends an additional $32 million annually keeping illegal immigrants in jail, Neang stated.

Neang opposes replacing the Alaskan Way Viaduct with a tunnel because the $2 billion already appropriated for replacement of the elevated highway is not enough to build a tunnel.

Neang also is concerned about cutting spending in general and protecting small businesses.

Incumbent Rep. Joe McDermott is a member of the House Education Committee. Earlier this year he supported a new $28.5 million program to provide extra help to students who fail any section of the 10th grade Washington Assessment of Student Learning. The money pays for before- and after-school classes, Saturday classes, test-preparation seminars, summer school, and tutoring in or outside school.

McDermott said he wants to focus next on the math portion of the assessment.

Last year, McDermott worked on legislation that helped change the way the State Board of Education is elected. Previously, board members were elected by school board members around the state, which made the State Board somewhat insular, he said.

Now five board members are still elected by school board members, but five others are appointed by the governor, and the elected superintendent of public instruction is a voting member for the first time. There's also a representative of private schools on the board now.

McDermott sponsored legislation to provide more money for low-income kids to qualify for school breakfast. The $2 million appropriated by the Legislature meant a lot of poor families didn't have to make a co-payment for breakfast, he said. He estimated about 8,000 kids benefit daily.

McDermott also supported the addition of sexual orientation to Washington's anti-discrimination statutes. It's illegal now to discriminate against anyone for their sexual orientation regarding employment or housing.

Tim St. Clair can be contacted at tstclair@robinsonnews.com or 932-0300.