Port of Camas-Washougal commissioners on Tuesday are slated to vote to appoint a successor to serve out the District 1 term of the late Commissioner Mark Lampton.
Tuesday’s public meeting, at 5 p.m. at the port’s office, 24 S. A St. in Washougal, follows a Sept. 15 special public meeting during which commissioners Bill Ward and Bill Macrae-Smith conducted 30-minute interviews of six candidates.
Initially, eight people filed applications for the District 1 position. However, two of them — Kelly Orfield, a vice president at Banfield Pet Hospitals, and Barry Sullivan, owner and operator of Vancouver Canned Foods Inc. — removed their names from the running, David Ripp, the port’s executive director, said Friday.
The six candidates are:
• Michael Briggs, whose professional experience includes working in sales, management and purchasing in the wood products industry from 1981 to 2006. In 2014, he ran unsuccessfully as a Democrat in the general election for Position 1 in the state’s 18th Legislative District.
• Nicholas Brown, funeral director and funeral insurance agent for Straub’s Funeral Home & Columbia River Cremation. His community involvement includes serving as a board member of the Camas Athletics Booster Club.
• Lauren Colas, who said in her application that she has 25 years of “financial and operations experience in both private and public firms.” In 2014, Colas, a Republican, ran unsuccessfully in the general election race for Clark County treasurer.
• Mark Forbes, content manager for corporate marketing at Mentor Graphics in Wilsonville, Ore. He did consulting work for Sharp Microelectronics of the Americas in Camas from 2002 to 2007.
• Paul Greenlee, a Washougal City Council member. From March 2010 to June 2015, he served on the board of trustees of the Association of Washington Cities.
• John Spencer, management consultant for Pulse Consulting LLC, where recent projects have included revenue forecasting and government relations. Previously, he was city administrator for the city of North Bonneville from 2010 to 2013.
The six candidates are vying for a shot at helping the port manage a 400-acre industrial park, 79-hangar general aviation airport and a 350-slip pleasure boat marina. The port also oversees Captain William Clark Park at Cottonwood Beach, the adjacent protective levee and Parkersville National Historic site.
The person appointed to the District 1 position would serve the rest of Lampton’s second, four-year term, through 2017, but would have to campaign for the office for an opportunity to serve beyond that timeline.
Lampton, 69, died of cancer on Aug. 3.
