The race for City Council Position No. 4 has drawn three candidates with each looking at the future of Black Diamond.

The three hopefuls, Jim Kuzaro, Paula Koch-Boyd and William Saas, are all first time candidates.

This position has been left open by Councilwoman Rebecca Olness, who is running against Mayor Howard Botts.

A campaign issue for each of the candidates is the coming of the YarrowBay development. With the lifting of the master plan moratorium, the firm is in the process of preparing to build 6,000 homes and 1.5 million square feet of commercial development according to city officials

The 58-year-old Kuzaro was born and raised in the Black Diamond. He and his wife have three children and he owns Diamond Landscaping.

Kuzaro said he served 10 years on the planning commission and is running for the council because he, “wants input on what is going on in the city. (Black Diamond) will be going through major changes. With development coming we need to try and keep the rural feel.”

Kuzaro said he wants to have “input on land use” and he wants to be involved in the “city’s fiscal responsibilities. The city needs to be fiscally viable and fiscally responsible.”

The candidate noted his daughter Jami Balint, is an attorney for YarrowBay.

In terms of his race, Kuzaro said his daughter working for YarrowBay, “doesn’t cause a problem (for me). We have lively discussions.”

Koch-Boyd is 38 years old and works as a meat cutter. She has three children, 18, 9 and 4.

“I want to make sure Black Diamond keeps the history,” Koch-Boyd said. “I don’t want to see it grow into an over populated place where families don’t know each other.”

Koch-Boyd said she believes YarrowBay has tried to keep the history of the area intact and from what she has seen the developer has been a “positive influence in Black Diamond.”

Koch-Boyd said she has “great organizational skills” that she will bring to the council.

“I’m not a typical politician,” Koch-Boyd said. “I’m a normal person and that is my greatest asset.”

The candidate said she thought both of her opponents were, “nice people. I think we will be lucky to get any one of them.”

Koch-Boyd said she is “all about schools and everything we can do for the fire department and police.”

She said the principle she is basing her campaign on is “be the change you want to see in your community.”

Saas is 36 and moved to the area in 1998. He and his wife Alyssa have two children, a 14-year-old girl and 8-year-old boy.

He met his wife when he was stationed at Fort Lewis serving in the U.S. Army.

Saas said he served on a committee to keep the Nestlé company from locating in Black Diamond. The company was interesting in taping into Black Diamond’s water for its bottled water business.

Saas said serving on the committee “stirred my passion…. Selling our water rights is not something we should get involved in.”

The candidate said the company has backed out of the proposal.

Concerning YarrowBay, Saas said he does not have access to the “plans, but we know 50 percent stays green. It is going to take a strong council to maintain a small-town feel. I don’t want us to looking like Kentridge, with house upon house. It can be done in a way to keep the small-town feel.”

Saas said, “My view of the council is you are voted in by the people and you are representing them.”

Saas said he was raised in Long Island, New York. The candidate said he was selling drywall texture machines, but was laid-off in December due to the economic downturn.