Union millworker takes on Longview mayor

Wayne Nichols, a retired union millworker and lifelong resident of Longview, didn’t like what he was seeing on city council.

Longview is a mill town. When Nichols was growing up, it was solidly union and Democratic. Today, after growing blue-collar alienation from the Democratic Party, it feels split 50-50, Nichols says. As a non-partisan elected body, Longview City Council should be able to dodge that polarization. But in the last two years a newly elected militantly conservative 4-3 majority has ditched consensus politics in pursuit of divisive and even fringe ideas. The four are Erik Halvorson, Kalei LaFave, Keith Young, and Spencer Boudreau, who also serves as mayor. 

For Nichols and many others in Longview, the foursome crossed a line on March 13, 2024 — just months after three of them were sworn in — when they voted to fire City Manager Kris Swanson for no stated reason and without public input. Under the city charter, the council had the right to fire her. But the firing violated her employment contract. Approved by a previous city council vote, her contract required a 5-2 majority if city council wanted to fire her for no cause. The firing also may have violated Washington’s Open Public Meetings Act, because the four met outside of public meetings to arrive at the decision to fire, and the decision was made without public notice or an opportunity for the public to ask questions or comment. 

Swanson sued for violation of her contract and eventually settled for a $140,000 payout, but the firing has cost the city more than that. Reporting in his Lower Columbia Currents Substack, longtime Longview journalist Andre Stepankowsky estimates the bill to taxpayers is over $500,000 and climbing. The council majority disregarded the objection of the city attorney and its insurer, so when three citizens sued the four council members over the meeting law violations, the insurer wouldn’t pay to defend the case. The four council members then voted to have the city pay for their legal defense. City Council also paid close to $75,000 to an outside consultant to develop the city budget, a task Swanson would have done as city manager. Swanson is now city manager for Battle Ground, Washington. But her firing also led to the resignation of the city attorney and the assistant city manager. 

Firing violated a contract

The firing didn’t sit well with Nichols. 

“That goes back to my old union days: It irritates me when contracts are violated. And they fired her without cause, which just means she didn’t do anything wrong, but she didn’t fit into their political agenda.”

Of the feckless foursome, only Boudreau — a 25-year-old property manager — is up for re-election this year. So when friends asked Nichols if he’d consider challenging Boudreau for office, he decided it was time. 

“I’m 69 years old,” Nichols told the Labor Press. “My career is behind me. I don’t have a political career mapped out. And that just affords me the opportunity to be honest.”

Nichols has deep community connections after decades of involvement as a volunteer firefighter, EMT instructor, court appointed special advocate for children, and board member at Mint Valley Federal Credit Union. He also has a temperament and skills that were developed during decades of service to his union, Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers (AWPPW) Local 580.

The son of a state trooper, Nichols grew up in Longview and went to work in the Weyerhaeuser mill in 1976. The job was to inspect pressure vessels and tanks and hazardous piping to ensure safety. Later, he ran the mill’s water filter plant and wastewater treatment center. Several years into the job, he heard about coworkers being treated unfairly and it bothered him.

“I was looking at the contract and it says right here you can’t do that,” Nichols recalls. “And somebody said, ‘Well, if that’s what you think, maybe you should think about being a shop steward.’”

“I don’t like bullies. I’ve always been the guy that wants to help the little guy,” Nichols says. “I thought, yeah, that’s bullshit. I’ve got to do my part.” 

Nichols became a union steward, and over the next 30 years served just about every office in Local 580 except president. He retired in 2017 after 40 years at Weyerhaeuser.

In retirement, he’s the kind of citizen who pays attention to local government. He noticed the turn that city council took in 2024.

“They’re spending a lot of time on culture war issues instead of the people’s business,” Nichols said. That’s a problem, Nichols says, because there are much more serious issues to contend with, like underfunded police and fire departments, and the need to replace 100-year-old water mains. 

“I’m not saying the present council doesn’t attend to these things, but they spend way too much of their time addressing issues that don’t further a practical agenda,” Nichols said.

Getting rid of fluoride?

An example was a January 2025 push by the foursome to stop adding fluoride to the water. Fluoride — an element that naturally occurs in some water sources — has been found to prevent tooth decay, so where it doesn’t occur naturally, trace amounts are often added to municipal water supplies. The proposal to end fluoridation drew opposition from many Longview residents. 

“Most people were like, ‘Are you kidding? You’re gonna take away fluoride protection for little kids and families that don’t even have dental insurance?’” Nichols said. “I asked my dentist ‘What do you think of this?’ He said, ‘Well, it’s the craziest thing ever.’ But then he smiled and said, ‘But if they do, it’ll pad my retirement.’”

Longview City Council eventually dropped that proposal. But they waded into another controversy last month with a push to name a city street over slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who had no connection to Longview. After a social media firestorm and public reaction showed that residents were deeply divided on the proposal, Boudreau pulled it off the council agenda.

Nichols has the backing of seven local labor organizations in his challenge to Boudreau: the Cowlitz-Wahkiakum Central Labor Council, the Longview/Kelso Building Trades Council, IBEW Local 48, United Association of Plumbers and Fitters Local 26, UFCW Local 555, Longview Union Fire Fighters (IAFF Local 828), and Washington Education Association.

“Obviously we as a labor council have a ton of respect for the union work that he put in while he was with Weyerhaeuser,” said Diana Winther, the central labor council’s secretary-treasurer. “But he also genuinely has a good head on his shoulders, a good background for creating compromise, and is someone who I think would take the role of being a leader on city council very seriously with the interest of Longview at heart and a true respect for the working people who live here.”

In their first match-up, the Aug. 5 primary, Nichols was the top vote-getter, earning 47% versus 37% for Boudreau. A third candidate, fellow challenger Marianne Chambers, got 16%. After the election, Chambers endorsed Nichols in the Nov. 3 runoff election.

“A lot of people in this town are more centrist, like I am,” Nichols said. “They see what’s going on with my opponent and they’re not liking it.”

Campaigning, Nichols is speaking to any group that’ll listen. His pitch: “It’s time for calm, measured, mature leadership in Longview again.”

“I don’t see solutions that appease either political extreme as workable,” Nichols said. “I try to come up with consensus and build collaboration, and that comes from my union days.” 

Boudreau is Longview’s mayor, but Nichols is running for city council, not for mayor. In Longview, city council elects one of their number to be mayor. All seven positions are volunteer. The council makes policy and budget decisions and hire and oversee the city manager.

Nichols says he’s lost five pounds going door to door to talk with voters. He also plans to air radio ads and did a spot on a local cable access TV station.

“I’m very grateful to all the people that have endorsed me. They’ve given me their endorsement. They’ve given me donations. And most importantly, they’ve given me their trust. That means more to me than any of the rest.”