Clark Regional Wastewater District Commissioners Neil Kimsey and Denny Kiggins, with muddy hands and knees, peered underneath the construction site in front of them.
But the men weren’t discussing logistics of laying wastewater pipe. Instead, they were discussing how best to access the crawl space beneath a Washougal home they were helping to re-side.
Kimsey and Kiggins were part of a handful of elected Clark County officials volunteering Saturday with Evergreen Habitat for Humanity as part of Elected Officials Build Day.
The event was hosted by Vancouver City Councilor and mayoral candidate Anne McEnerny-Ogle, who spent the early morning volunteering. Although she had to leave for an afternoon engagement, her son, John and husband, Terry, stayed behind to help.
Ridgefield City Councilor Don Stose joined Kimsey and Kiggins in installing new skirting around the bottom of the manufactured home in the North Shore Estates Mobile Home Park. The three were involved in a similar project for a house in Orchards about 10 years ago.
“This is a great event for all elected officials to get together to do some community service, do some networking with each other, while trying to make this a better place,” Stose said.
Kimsey said the siding on the manufactured home was pretty rotten. The re-siding project started off slow, he said, but was gaining momentum by lunch.
Kiggins described the work as being pretty easy. “I think we’ve all pretty much done something like this in our own homes,” he said of the re-siding.
About 15 volunteers helped with the project at any given time, said Courtney Patterson, a construction site coordinator. Many people came and went throughout the day. Clark County council Chair Marc Boldt and Councilors John Blom, Julie Olson and Eileen Quiring were among those volunteering in the morning.
“It’s nice to have any people in power all working hard,” she said. “They have busy schedules so it’s nice they can do this.”
Homeowner AJ Bogue, 57, alternated between watching the workers from his living room and walking around the site.
He said he suffers from back issues and his wife, Elizabeth, 55, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and is in a wheelchair. Their physical ailments have made it difficult for them to keep up their manufactured home, which was built in 1994. They have lived there since 2004, he said.
Bogue said their siding started coming off, and unable to fix it, they were close to being evicted. That’s when someone suggested they reach out to Evergreen Habitat for Humanity, he said.
“They are amazing people, the work that they do,” Bogue said. “I’ve really been blown away by what they’ve done. Every time there is a decent day, they’re on top of it.”
The wheelchair ramp to the Bogues’ door is too steep for his wife, he said, and their roof is leaking, but those are projects that will have to be addressed later.
Bogue said there were many new faces at his home Saturday, but he didn’t realize some were elected officials.
“I think it’s awesome. I wish they’d realize how many people can’t afford many basic necessities,” Bogue said of the elected officials volunteering. “It’s a chance for them to really see what’s going on with the working poor or middle poor.
“It’s good for them to get their hands dirty and see what’s going on in the real world,” he added.
Members of the Young Democrats of Clark County were also at the build.
President Gwen White, 22, said the group had been wanting to do more community service and activism; it was an added bonus, she said, when they learned McEnerny-Ogle was hosting the build day.
“It’s a lot easier than I expected. I want to do this more often,” White said of the project. “If you can use a drill or hammer, they’ll find something for you to do.”
