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Monday, March 18, 2024
March 18, 2024

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Morning Press: Charter, comics, bridge, sustainability, standoff

The Columbian
Published:

Were you away for the weekend? Catch up on some big stories.

This week is expected to be damp and cool. More detailed local weather coverage is online here.

The home-rule charter explained

The political battle of the season is not taking place between opposing candidates. Rather, it’s focused on how county government operates.

It’s the type of subject matter generally discussed in college classes, not at the water cooler. But in Clark County, the home rule charter has become the political issue of the 2014 general election.

The dividing line between supporters and opponents of the proposed Clark County charter has been stark. On one side, there’s the old guard, a bipartisan bloc consisting of names such as Republican Sheriff Garry Lucas, Democratic former county Commissioner Betty Sue Morris and Republican county Auditor Greg Kimsey. They say the charter would improve voter representation, increase professionalism and usher the county into a new era. Other supporters say it would add more checks and balances and professional oversight to a county that in the past decade has exploded in population.

On the other side, there are the opponents, culled from the more conservative ranks of the local Republican Party, who call the charter too much and too reactionary — a referendum on two sitting commissioners, Republicans Tom Mielke and David Madore, who are simply exerting the leadership they were elected to provide.

The opponents criticize how a charter would place more power in the hands of an unelected county manager, who would act as the point person between the commissioners and department heads, much like a city manager. They’ve referred to such a position as a “king” or “dictator.”

  • Read the complete story here.

Help us choose The Columbian’s comics

Are you a comics reader? Is there a strip you love to read every day? Is there one that puts your teeth on edge? We need your feedback.

The Columbian is considering making changes to our comics lineup. After a company-wide poll of strips we don’t run, we’ve chosen some of our favorites for our readers to consider.

We need your vote to help us gauge which strips are worth adding, and among those we already run, which strips are the real oldie-but-goodies — and which are the old-and-tired.

Cast your vote by filling in the ballot found on Sunday’s Page D3 and mailing it to: The Columbian, Attn: Comics Survey, P.O. Box 180, Vancouver, WA 98666; or dropping it off at our offices at 701 W. 8th St., Vancouver. You can also complete an online version of the survey by clicking through to this story.

The deadline for all comments is Nov. 1.

  • Read the complete story here.

Economist doubts east county bridge is viable

Republican Clark County Commissioner David Madore has called his proposal for an east county bridge across the Columbia River an ideal fit for the community, a viable and cost-effective way of relieving cross-state congestion.

But others, including an ally in Madore’s fight against the Columbia River Crossing, question whether it’s financially viable.

In August, Madore approached Portland-based economist Joe Cortright, a critic of the Columbia River Crossing, about lending support to the east county bridge. Cortright said he declined to do an economic analysis. He called the financial details for the project too vague.

“Even if the departments of transportation signed off on this, they don’t have the capacity to pay for it,” Cortright said.

Madore has repeatedly said that if county voters lend their support to an east county bridge in the advisory vote on the general election ballot, then figuring out how to pay for the $800 million project could be left up to Oregon and Washington lawmakers.

That would be a tough sell, Cortright said.

“Who would sign the contract? And where they would they get the money to pay for it?” he said. “It’s only financially viable and sound if you have someone on the hook for it.”

  • Read the complete story here.

Builder plans sustainable homes ‘to last 200 years’

Five years after bank failures and an economic meltdown froze Clark County’s home-building sector in its tracks, construction has returned to lots zoned and permitted long ago. Housing construction remains well below pre-recession levels. But as builders such as Troy Johns can attest, the legacy of the Great Recession may shape the face of new housing in the community for years to come.

Townhouses are out. Eco-friendly projects are in. Builders such as Johns are opting to put up fewer houses so that they can set aside small parks and common areas in their developments. And with some of Clark County’s longtime builders no longer in operation, new leaders are emerging.

Johns, owner of Urban NW Homes, was one of the few local builders unscathed from the industry’s collapse. Now he is among the new shapers of Clark County home construction. With construction sites scattered across the county, Johns’ company is building for a market that he says is more interested in sustainability and open space than pre-recession buyers. Johns, who was raised in Vancouver, says he is building homes that will last for generations.

  • Read the complete story here.

Patient police end 15-hour standoff with all safe

An 15-hour standoff between police and a suspect barricaded in his east Vancouver garage ended safely at about 8 a.m. Saturday.

Michael D. Wright, 45, was booked into the Clark County Jail.

Vancouver police say they were contacted at 5 p.m. Friday by a woman who came to the police station to say a male relative had threatened and assaulted family members earlier in the day. She said he was not allowing them to leave the home.

The regional dispatch network shows an even earlier communication from the residence, when a caller from that address telephoned 911 at 3:06 p.m. to report what was logged at the time as a “cold” assault, meaning it had occurred some time earlier.

After the woman visited the precinct, patrol officers went to the residence, north of Evergreen High School. They were able to make verbal contact with the suspect, who refused to come out and talk with officers.

Instead, he remained in his garage, along with a child whom he would not release, and the family dogs.

A patrol officer called for the Southwest Washington Regional SWAT team, which surrounded the property, and the standoff continued all night.

  • Read the complete story here.
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