Incumbent Ruth Kagi, D-Lake Forest Park, spoke first of wanting to continue the progress she has made in the areas of early childhood education and child welfare.

Shoreline Republican Gary Gagliardi disputes Kagi’s call for increased early education and, while he said it might sound hackneyed, he hopes to reduce the bureaucracy in Olympia.

Kagi and Gagliardi are vying for the District 32, Position 2 state-representative seat the incumbent has held for 12 years.

Also in the Aug. 17 primary contest is perennial, 12-time candidate Stan Lippmann, who ran for King County office last year.

Probably not surprisingly, the economy and the next state budget have been a main theme of most campaigns this primary season. In that arena, Gagliardi put a decided emphasis on dismantling what he characterized as the state’s out-of-control bureaucracy, moving energies and money elsewhere. Reducing bureaucracy is a topic on which Gagliardi claims to be an expert.

According to his campaign Web site, Gagliardi makes his living coaching companies on reducing conflict “and moving decision making from stifling bureaucracies into the front-lines.” He has written several books on reducing bureaucracy and related topics.

Gagliardi said Olympia decidedly suffers from an ever-expanding administration, an alleged situation he claims leads to waste and fewer and fewer dollars getting to where they are needed. As an example, Gagliardi’s Web site claims 41 percent of Washington’s education dollars are spent outside the classroom.

In terms of funding eduction, Kagi supports a 2 or 3 percent income tax on residents making $200,000 or more, an idea Gagliardi flatly opposes. Kagi also talked in a different way about improving the state’s efficiency.

As an example, Kagi cited a program she spearheaded that reduced or eliminated jail time for non-violent drug offenders, instead putting those offenders into treatment.

Kagi claimed those offenders are held responsible for future behavior and can face jail if they don’t remain clean and law abiding. She added the dollars saved by not incarcerating such offenders goes into funding the state’s drug courts.

Returning to early education and childhood development, Kagi said she wants to promote early education both as a way of promoting overall education in the state, but also as, ultimately, a cost-saving measure. She said study after study shows early education, or preschool, cuts down on school problems later in life for the youngsters involved, even reducing dropout rates.

Considering the cost of remedial classes and the societal costs often connected with students not finishing high school, Kagi said early education simply is a great investment for the state to make. Again, Gagliardi wholly disagrees. He argues young children learn best by spending time with parents.

“I think she (Kagi) is very serious about wanting to help kids,” Gagliardi said. “But I don’t think she really understands what helps kids.” He added “universal day care” is not going to solve the state’s education problems.

“The state can’t replace the family,” Gagliardi said.

Like Kagi, Gagliardi claims there are plenty of studies to back up his point of view and said he is not aware of any studies saying otherwise.

Kagi again asserted there is a “ton” of well-respected, well-documented research backing up her view.

“I am somewhat amazed those studies are just being dismissed,” she said.

As head of the house early childhood and child-welfare committee, Kagi also sponsored a bill that she touts as having rewritten the operations of Washington’s child protective services.

According to Kagi, the state had some 1,800 contracts relating to child welfare. In the future, that number will be greatly reduced and contracts awarded and reviewed on a performance basis.

“It radically changes the way we serve children that are abused or neglected,” Kagi said.

For his part, Lippmann talked on a number of different subjects, primarily attacking what he calls illegal and unconstitutional paper money not backed by any actual gold or silver. He speaks of most current politicians as criminals who have created a fascist dictatorship.

In his statement for the King County voter’s pamphlet, Lippmann again hinted at converting U.S. money. He also talked about promoting alternative transportation and energy sources such as solar thermal and wind turbines. He said converting all vehicles to natural gas would save each person thousands annually and eliminate air pollution. On one point, he agreed with Kagi, promoting the release of non-violent marijuana offenders.