o Mayor Tim Leavitt: C-Tran; City Audit Committee; Lodging Tax Advisory Committee (alternate).
o Jeanne Harris: C-Tran; Southwest Regional Transportation Committee; Child Abuse Prevention Executive Board.
o Jeanne Stewart: C-Tran; Columbia River Economic Development Council.
o Larry Smith: Bistate Transportation Committee; Clark County Action Advisory Board; Southwest Clean Air Agency alternate); Lodging Tax Advisory Committee; Columbia River Economic Development Council (alternate); City Audit Committee; Fireman’s Pension Board; Police Pension Board of Trustees.
o Pat Campbell: Council for the Homeless; Southwest Clean Air Agency; Metro Policy Advisory Committee.
o Mayor Tim Leavitt: C-Tran; City Audit Committee; Lodging Tax Advisory Committee (alternate).
o Jeanne Harris: C-Tran; Southwest Regional Transportation Committee; Child Abuse Prevention Executive Board.
o Jeanne Stewart: C-Tran; Columbia River Economic Development Council.
o Larry Smith: Bistate Transportation Committee; Clark County Action Advisory Board; Southwest Clean Air Agency alternate); Lodging Tax Advisory Committee; Columbia River Economic Development Council (alternate); City Audit Committee; Fireman's Pension Board; Police Pension Board of Trustees.
o Pat Campbell: Council for the Homeless; Southwest Clean Air Agency; Metro Policy Advisory Committee.
o Jack Burkman: Southwest Regional Transportation Committee; Joint Policy Advisory Commission on Transportation; Bistate Transportation Committee (alternate);.
o Bart Hansen: Clark County Solid Waste Advisory Commission (will fill seat when Stewart resigns from the board this month); Fireman's Pension Board; Police Pension Board of Trustees; Child Abuse Prevention Executive Board (alternate).
o Jack Burkman: Southwest Regional Transportation Committee; Joint Policy Advisory Commission on Transportation; Bistate Transportation Committee (alternate);.
o Bart Hansen: Clark County Solid Waste Advisory Commission (will fill seat when Stewart resigns from the board this month); Fireman’s Pension Board; Police Pension Board of Trustees; Child Abuse Prevention Executive Board (alternate).
After an hour of debate and a few moments of near impasse, the Vancouver City Council chose from among its members who would be assigned to which coveted — and not-so-coveted — boards.
Just more than a month after the contentious election of Larry Smith to mayor pro tempore over two senior councilors, Jeanne Harris and Jeanne Stewart, the women got their top choices of seats Monday night.
With Mayor Tim Leavitt hanging on to his spot on C-Tran, four councilors — Smith, Harris, Stewart and Jack Burkman — all indicated strong interest in claiming the two remaining open seats each on C-Tran and Southwest Washington Regional Transportation Council.
“Clearly, there are some coveted boards,” Leavitt said before signaling to the six councilors that he intended to spread individual responsibilities and skills across the appointments.
At moments, the process seemed doomed to last indefinitely, with Harris at one point declaring: “We’re stuck.” Ultimately, each councilor claimed a spot on their top choice of board, with the exception of Smith, who agreed to let Harris and Stewart, who were already serving on the C-Tran board, keep their spots, despite the fact he had been attending every C-Tran meeting over the last year in hopes of earning a seat there.
The newest council member, Bart Hansen, who was sworn in last week, chose to defer to the other councilors’ wishes.
Harris, who came away with a total of three boards, including C-Tran and the regional transportation council, said afterward that she found the division of duties equitable.
She also said that Monday night may represent the end of some fairly public wrangling on a council that has seen the departure of two longtime members, a new mayor and two new councilors in the last six weeks.
“Overall, things are kind of moving on as I expected,” Harris said. “We’re figuring each other out.”
The appointments were only to the boards that require a council member seat; many councilors also belong to other community organizations.
