With the face of Little Norway set for the biggest makeover in recent history, the race for Poulsbo City Council Position 6 is more important than ever.

Keeping this in mind, members of the North Kitsap Herald Advisory Board met with incumbent Dale Rudolph and challenger Herb Kai this week to discuss the issues of the day and take a closer look at their vision for the city.

While this paper doesn’t always see eye to eye on issues with Rudolph, we know where his heart and interests lie — in making Little Norway the best place it can be.

He’s got a long history of living and working in this community and, this reason, coupled with his extensive accomplishments as a council member earned him our unanimous endorsement.

We like Herb Kai, too.

The community advocate has shown an exemplary interest in city politics and doesn’t shy away from bringing his thoughts and ideas to the table during committee and council meetings. He’s got all sorts of experience with municipal dealings but we feel Dale’s got a vested interest in Poulsbo that’s fairly difficult to replace.

Kai should continue his role as an advocate, we agreed. Keeping an eye on the city council as a watchdog is right on par with serving it in an official capacity and Kai has proven his worth at meetings across the board.

We agreed with Kai’s feeling that Poulsbo should not be fragmented but felt he wasn’t giving the enormous changes coming down the pipe in the wake of development at Olhava the attention they deserve.

Rudolph not only recognizes the challenges that growth will create for Poulsbo, we feel he’s fully up to meeting them.

His planning background offers him an insightful edge as a council member and his knowledge of this city’s political past in laudable.

With a vested history here, we’re glad to know he’s directly involved with the city’s long-range planning team and is taking a proactive approach to unraveling the mystery of Poulsbo’s future needs. We like his no-nonsense approach and wish him the best on his campaign.