Most public officials spend a lot of time attending meetings of regional boards and commissions, such as the Puget Sound Regional Council and South County Area Transportation Board.

Those who attend agree that such boards can provide links to state and federal funding sources for everything from trails to roads. And mayors go to their share of them.

Mayor Pete Lewis and Auburn City Councilwoman Virginia Haugen, opponents in the race for Auburn mayor, disagree on the City’s need to be there.

Lewis, who serves on a number of boards and commissions — among them the Green River Valley Flood Control District and South County Area Transportation (SCAT) board — said the City’s presence is “absolutely vital,” especially when the economy is sour and money is scarce.

“If you’re not at the table, you’re an item on the menu,” Lewis said. “When we weren’t there, other cities not only got things they wanted, but we continued to get things taken away from us.”

Lewis said everybody learned during former Mayor Chuck Booth’s administration that the City’s ability to bring in money depended on attending every one of those meetings. He estimates that he spends about 30 percent of his time preparing for and attending them.

“Without being at the meetings, the City would not have a voice,” Lewis said. “It’s the connection to the greater community.”

Haugen, a member of the City’s Municipal Services Committee and its Leoff Board, is the only Auburn City Council member who does not represent the City on any of the regional boards or commissions.

Asked if she could see herself as mayor attending these meetings or if she had the required skills, Haugen responded, “probably not.”

She said such meetings are a waste of time and money.

“This is big government. People get paid (to hold these meetings), just like you get paid to put on a conference … Right now, regional committees and commissions are not doing us any good,” Haugen said, adding that too often people often just sit around “chitchatting.”

Some time ago, Haugen recalled, a representative of the South County Transportation Board spoke to the Council of the Whole, a session that convenes whenever there is a fifth Monday in a month.

“He discussed transportation issues, and a member of the Council sat and looked at him like, ‘Are you crazy?’ ” Haugen recalled. “I did, too. Because there was no money to do any of the things that he had a whole plan for. We are planning for things that we have no money to do. That’s what they do in these committees. They lobby Washington state, they lobby the federal government, but we’re not getting any money from the federal government, or the state, or the county to deal with our transportation issues. We’re pretty much on our own.”

Records show that city representation at different boards has netted funds that helped build the following, among other things:

• The Transit Center

• Connections to the Interurban Trail

• Mary Olson Farm

• Fenster levee reconstruction

• West Main Street improvements

The city’s representation on the Puget Sound Regional Transportation Committee, which the federal government uses to fund transportation projects in Puget Sound, has been crucial to helping build such projects as South 277th Street, the Lake Tapps Parkway, Hot Lanes on State Route 167, commuter transit from Lakeland Hills and the Charles Booth Bridge.

Lewis estimated that having a representative on the boards and commissions has been worth “tens of millions,” to the city.

“Without a representative there, we wouldn’t have a voice on transportation,” Lewis said.

Yes, said Finance Director Shelley Coleman, city officials may attend many meetings and not see a dime from them, but it’s still important to be there, if only to come away with that one thing that may help the city down the line.

Councilmembers weighed in.

“Anyone who thinks that we should not work with the neighboring cities and counties does not understand the most basic function of government,” said Councilwoman Sue Singer, former chair of the Puget Sound Regional Council.

Lewis is a past member of the Puget Sound Growth Management Committee, the Economic Development Committee, the Pierce County Regional Council. He is chair of Valley Communications, President of the Suburban Cities Association and past chair of its Public Issues Committee, past Chair and member of the Green River Valley Flood Control District, past chair and member of the South County Area Transportation Board, caucus Chair of the King County Regional Policy Committee, past Chair and member of the South King County Human Services Forum and Vice Chair of the Puget Sound Regional Council Economic Development District Board.