In Our View: Glover, Beardshear for Vancouver City Council Position 3

The race for Position 3 on the Vancouver City Council presents an intriguing choice for voters in the Aug. 1 primary election. Three candidates are on the ballot, each with their own strengths and each able to state a case for why they should advance to the November general election.

The Columbian recommends Linda Glover and Michelle Beardshear as the best candidates to advance out of the top-two primary to face off on the November ballot. The race for city council Position 3 also includes Vaughn Henderson in a contest to replace Anne McEnerny-Ogle, who is running for mayor. As always, this is merely a recommendation. The Columbian encourages voters to examine the candidates and the issues in order to cast an informed ballot.

In studying the candidates, voters will find that Glover is a longtime civic leader with experience in small business. She is executive director of Gifts For Our Community, a nonprofit organization that provides community resources focusing upon human services, education and the arts, and she has served on the boards of Vancouver’s Downtown Association, Learning Avenues Childcare Centers, and the Fort Vancouver National Trust.

Glover, who has a background as an educator, has done the homework required of a city council candidate. She is well-versed on issues facing city government and effectively articulates a strong vision for the future of Vancouver. As she notes in her campaign materials, “We are fortunate to have a city council that works well together, and to have city staff who are willing to reshape policies and procedures to meet the changing needs of our growing community.” Glover demonstrates an ability to contribute to those efforts, focusing upon the need for public safety while saying that security for residents contributes to a high quality of life in multiple ways.

Beardshear, meanwhile, stresses her ability to bring a different viewpoint to the council. As somebody who is physically disabled and requires the use of a wheelchair, she focuses upon public safety and public access as being essential to the quality of life for all citizens. “I am one of the vulnerable, but I’m standing up for the vulnerable,” she told The Columbian Editorial Board. Beardshear, an employee of Clark Public Utilities, also notes that she is a resident of east Vancouver, an area that she believes is underrepresented in the city’s power structure.

Unlike the other candidates, Beardshear supports a proposed oil terminal at the Port of Vancouver. If the city council had a say on whether the terminal is approved, we would reconsider her candidacy for the council. But because the council has no impact upon the eventual decision, we can focus instead upon the strengths she would bring to city leadership.

Henderson’s platform also has some strengths, focusing primarily upon transportation options and the need for the city to confront a growing opioid epidemic. He brings a strong progressive message to his campaign, supporting alternative energy options and creative approaches to dealing with affordable housing and homelessness.

Glover, Beardshear, and Henderson bring varying interests to their campaigns, with each destined to attract support depending upon which issues receive primacy from individual voters. But Glover and Beardshear have the most detailed and most realistic visions for the future of the city.

The Columbian recommends Linda Glover and Michelle Beardshear as the most qualified candidates in the race for Vancouver City Council, Position 3.