Sherry Parker
Democrat
o Age: 63.
o Residence: Battle Ground.
o Experience: Courtroom deputy clerk for seven years, juvenile court secretary for eight years and county clerk for four years.
o Key issues: She wants to continue streamlining procedures for processing paperwork.
o Money raised: $19,458.
Scott Weber
Republican
o Age: 38.
o Residence: Vancouver.
o Experience: Manufacturing engineering technician for Columbia Machine.
o Key issues: He wants to abolish the office, making the county clerk an appointed position.
o Money raised: $5,635.
Sherry Parker is seeking a second term as Clark County clerk and her opponent, Scott Weber, is pursuing a new career altogether.
While Parker was a deputy clerk and a juvenile court secretary for a total of 15 years before taking office in 2007, Weber has no clerk experience. He works as a manufacturing engineering technician at Columbia Machine.
Sherry Parker
Democrat
o Age: 63.
o Residence: Battle Ground.
o Experience: Courtroom deputy clerk for seven years, juvenile court secretary for eight years and county clerk for four years.
o Key issues: She wants to continue streamlining procedures for processing paperwork.
o Money raised: $19,458.
Scott Weber
Republican
o Age: 38.
o Residence: Vancouver.
o Experience: Manufacturing engineering technician for Columbia Machine.
o Key issues: He wants to abolish the office, making the county clerk an appointed position.
o Money raised: $5,635.
The two candidates’ goals for the job couldn’t be more different. The 38-year-old Republican said he’s running because he wants to abolish the office, making it instead an appointed position. But Parker, 63, believes her job is about having the necessary technical experience and not about political aspirations.
The August primary election’s results foreshadow a close race on Nov. 2: Weber captured nearly 52 percent of the votes and Parker took 48 percent of the votes.
Each candidate has a different take on what those results mean heading into the race.
“Obviously, running ahead of an incumbent as a first-time candidate bodes well for my success in the general election,” Weber said.
But Parker thinks the results reflect a low Democratic turnout and that her numbers will increase in the general election. “I was disappointed, obviously,” she said. “I think the problem was voter turnout.”
If elected, Weber said, he would push for a home-rule charter, which means the county has a charter different from the basic state template other counties use. With a home-rule charter, the clerk position could be changed from elected to appointed.
He also takes issue with how Parker, a Democrat, was elected four years ago. Parker’s husband, Philip Parker, belongs to Local 48 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the union was a major contributor to Parker’s campaign.
“I don’t think people’s money ought to be used for that, for an office that has little to do with labor issues,” he said.
Parker says there was nothing unethical with how she raised money. And the 63-year-old thinks Weber’s mission to change the office is unconstitutional.
“We were established in the constitution of the state,” she said. And there’s a clear mission to have the job part of the executive branch and not the judicial branch. “It brings a balance of power.”
Since taking office, Parker has helped streamline procedures for processing paperwork to a computer imaging system and digitizing old court files from microfilm.
She lives in Battle Ground with her husband. They have two grown sons and three grandchildren.
The past president of the Northwest Corvette Association, Weber lives in east Vancouver with his wife, Amy, and their four children.
Laura McVicker: 360-735-4516 or laura.mcvicker@columbian.com.
