An accountant-turned-entrepreneur is Clark County’s newest candidate for assessor.
Daniel Weaver, 64, of Salmon Creek said Tuesday that he wants to overhaul the county’s property assessment system to reflect more detailed data about trends in particular neighborhoods.
“They’re taking more of a global approach, combining neighborhoods,” said Weaver, who said he’s sat on the county’s Board of Equalization, hearing property-appraisal appeals, for six years. “That works when you’re in a relatively stable market.”
In the volatile housing market of the last few years, Weaver said, that system has caused assessments to lag too far behind property values.
“You’re going to see certain neighborhoods that have just dropped like a rock, and it’s going to take a while for assessments to catch up,” Weaver said.
Weaver plans to run as a Republican in the nonpartisan Aug. 17 primary. He’d be the third Republican in the race to replace incumbent Democrat Linda Franklin, along with Peter Van Nortwick of Salmon Creek and Bill Jameson of west Vancouver.
Franklin has not yet officially declared that she will run for re-election.
Born in Oregon, Weaver said he lived in Southern California, New York, Los Angeles and Philadelphia before moving to Salmon Creek in 1998.
He worked as a certified public accountant for Arthur Young — now Ernst and Young — for 15 years, then served as chief financial officer of two private security firms.
He’s also taken on entrepreneurial ventures of his own, recently remodeling a building in Anaconda, Mont., into a strip mall. Weaver also serves on the Clark County Railroad Advisory Board.
The full-time assessor job pays $93,313 annually.
Weaver cited his management experience as a strength.
“I’ve been involved in profit-oriented entities, so profit was the goal,” he said. “And here, customer service is the goal — that is, providing service to our taxpayers.”
Weaver said he doesn’t think he’d chafe at government’s checks and balances, even after so many years in private management.
“As I’ve grown older, I think I’ve become a little slower myself,” Weaver said, brightly.
Michael Andersen: 360-735-4508 or michael.andersen@columbian.com.
