BREMERTON — Much has been made about teamwork in the District 6 City Council race, by media and the candidates themselves.

Challenger Richard Huddy sees himself as a collaborator and missing link in an effective city council.

“I really believe in collaborating with people to achieve results,” Huddy said. “I think teamwork will get us where we want to go.”

Incumbent Roy Runyon was first elected to council in 2007 and resigned 2013 when he moved to another district. He was elected to his current position later that year.

He views himself as the council’s watchdog, its enforcer of the Bremerton Municipal Code. He thinks Huddy’s definition of teamwork means going with the flow, contrary to the U.S. style of government.

“Our system of government was not based on the main concern of everybody being a team player,” Runyon said, who works as a driver for Kitsap Transit. “It was designed to provide a separation of power, checks and balances, a constant questioning of what we do and how we do things.”

The most successful teams are comprised of individuals with varying skill-sets and personalities that coalesce; their diversity allows them to handle a wide array of problems.

“You have to the ability to see all aspects of an issue — not that we necessarily do, but that is a strength,” Runyon said.

In fact, too much teamwork can be detrimental to citizens, he said.

“If the purpose of having government in this country and then the city is to everybody to sing ‘Kumbaya’ and things would be drastically different and a lot worse,” Runyon said.

Runyon, 52, is well-known for grilling presenters at council meetings. To prepare, he reads every page of the weekly council meeting packets, which range from 50 to 250 pages of legalese. And he’s been doing so for the better part of eight years, giving him extensive knowledge of city issues.

“Being a council member is a cumulative process because the more you know about the city the more you’ve studied in the past or worked on it, that helps you,” Runyon said.

He’s running on improving quality of life in Bremerton, slowing government spending and defending the Bremerton Municipal Code and the U.S. Constitution.

This talk of teamwork has unseated the early storyline that made national headlines: the fact that the third candidate in this race is Runyon’s wife, Kim Faulkner. Some have said her candidacy is nothing more than a political stunt.

“Some people suggested that it’s just ridiculous to have my wife run against me, well she has every right to do so — how can I dissuade her from doing that?” Runyon said. “If she feels she can offer something that is not currently provided, I think that’s great.”

Faulkner’s been relatively quiet thus far due to illness.

“I will strive to balance government services with funding restraints to provide the best value for all citizens,” Faulkner said in a statement read at the League of Women Voters debate forum. “I strongly advocate a team approach to problem solving and while a consensus is unlikely I will lead by example to foster an atmosphere of respectful debate, with the end goal of sound and single solutions.”

One issue Runyon’s keen on is stamping is out crony capitalism, which is essentially why he was the only council member who didn’t sign a letter to Gold Mountain Capital, informing them of the city’s opposition to a proposed casino on Callow Avenue.

“I’m for economic development, opportunity, insuring that the process is preserved for anyone in our city, anybody who comes to our city, our property owners are allowed to request a change in zoning, if that’s what they think’s gonna work for them, doesn’t mean it’s going to be approved but to create a chilling effect and for the politicians — the politicians — to interfere and say we don’t like this or we don’t like that,” Runyon said. “Choosing winners and losers is totally inappropriate.

“And it smacks of crony capitalism where politicians want to choose the winners amongst the folks who support them or they like or they know — that’s not American.”