Mount Rainier

In forum, Mount Rainier’s 3 official candidates agree on a lot

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Mount Rainier’s three official City Council candidates appear to have broadly similar visions for the city.

News
A middle-aged African-American woman with gray hair and a white, short-sleeved shirt sits at a table during a meeting of some kind.

Robinson sues Mount Rainier for $1.5 million over alleged ‘racist’ records request blowback

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Charnette Robinson is suing the city of Mount Rainier for $1.5 million. The suit alleges Robinson’s rights were violated in 2019 when City Councilor Celina Benitez issued an open letter on social media characterizing an earlier Public Information Act records request from Robinson as “a racist pursuit.” Robinson’s records request, filed February 2019, sought a variety of documents regarding city officials, including information about the citizenship status of city elected officials. In a March 2019 open letter, Benitez – a Hispanic immigrant and naturalized citizen – described the records request as “no better than a racist pursuit for a president’s birth certificate.” These incidents occurred in the run-up to the May 2019 Mount Rainier City Council elections, which saw Robinson challenge the incumbent Benitez for her Ward One seat.

Brentwood

Benitez wins 4 years on Mount Rainier Council; Brentwood, N. Brentwood, Riverdale Park results

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Incumbent Mount Rainier City Councilor Celina Benitez has decisively won a four-year term, holding on to her seat in the Gateway City’s Ward One she first won two years ago. Benitez defeated rival Charnette Robinson by a vote of 281 to 109, according to unofficial results. While the final numbers could change due to potentially-outstanding absentee ballots, there are too few such ballots outstanding to change the final result, according to Mount Rainier election officials. “I’m definitely happy the community came out. It was an election where there with only Council members, so sometimes you tendto feel people will not come out, especially when there’s not a Federal election,” said Benitez in an interview after the votes were counted.

Mount Rainier

Analysis: Finding the subtext in Mount Rainier’s City Council debate

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Mount Rainier’s three candidates for City Council seats met this week in the only debate planned before the May elections. For two candidates — incumbent Ward One Councilor Celina Benitez and her opponent, local activist Charnette Robinson — it was a chance to define themselves against the other. But they didn’t really succeed — unless, that is, you were already familiar with the candidates.

Brentwood

Mount Rainier, Brentwood elections heat up fast

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Brentwood Mayor Rocio Treminio-Lopez will likely hold onto her seat, but the small town has a competitive field for four Town Council seats up for grabs. Meanwhile, as the filing deadline to run for office in Mount Rainier comes to a close, several candidates have expressed an interest in running.