PORT ANGELES — Two City Council candidates differed on city government salaries Tuesday at a Nov. 3 general election forum.

Michael Merideth and Marolee Smith, vying for the four-year Position 5 seat being vacated by Mayor Dan Di Guilio, gently sparred for 25 minutes Tuesday at a Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce luncheon attended by about 45 participants.

Two-term council member Cherie Kidd also gave a 10-minute presentation.

Kidd is running against Dan Bateham, who has dropped out of the race but whose name will appear on the ballot because he notified the Clallam County Auditor’s Office of his decision after the state deadline.

Ballots will be mailed to voters Oct. 14 — next Wednesday.

Asked how they would save the city money, Smith said she would take a hard line against clerical-worker salaries that are higher than those of other city residents.

Lowering salaries?

“We need to look at potentially lowering those salaries,” she said.

“There have been a lot of towns that have had to look at it,” she said, mentioning Detroit.

Merideth disagreed, saying that contracts need to be honored or renegotiated if changed.

“If you make that contract with someone, you need to stay to it,” he said.

The city, he added, needs to determine which programs can be scaled back to cut costs.

Merideth, who will be 42 on Nov. 3, is a 40-year county resident, Port Angeles High School graduate and log-truck driver for Bruch & Bruch Construction Inc.

Smith, who will 60 on Nov. 3, is a 20-year Clallam County resident. She is a published author, freelance writer and researcher who has worked in public relations and owned two downtown businesses.

Merideth also suggested cutting down more trees in Lincoln Park than is considered necessary to unblock runway access to nearby William R. Fairchild International Airport.

“The city needs to stop spending money on what trees we think have to come out,” he said.

The park needs more sunshine, Merideth added.

“The park needs to be opened up.”

Water fluoridation

Merideth and Smith both opposed city water fluoridation and criticized the city’s utility rates.

Kidd did not take a stand on fluoridation, noting that public hearings on fluoridation are coming up — Oct. 22 and Oct. 29.

She also told luncheon participants that she voted against the utility increases.

Residential electric, water, wastewater and combined sewer overflow system rates will increase an average of 4.7 percent in 2016 and 4.6 percent in 2017 for a cumulative increase of 9.2 percent over those two years, Phil Lusk, deputy director of power and telecommunications systems, said later Monday.

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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5060, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.