County Council: Candidates say party affiliation not as big a player at local level

The last few elections for positions in Clark County government have not been kind to Democrats.

In 2014, the Republican Party gained full control of the then-board of county commissioners with the election of Jeanne Stewart. A year later, county voters reorganized the three-member commission to a five-member council. But despite the new opportunities, Democrats lost races in the 2015 special election to Marc Boldt, no party preference, who was elected council chair, and Republican Julie Olson, who won the District 2 seat. They joined Republican holdover Jeanne Stewart.

In 2016, Republicans John Blom and Eileen Quiring were elected to the county council, meaning that the only Democrats to hold countywide partisan offices were Prosecutor Tony Golik and Treasurer Doug Lasher.

Rich Rogers, chair of the Clark County Democrats, said that there is a disconnect in the situation. He pointed out that in 2016, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton narrowly won Clark County. The same year, Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Bryant carried the county, as did Democratic U.S. Sen. Patty Murray.

“We are kind of a purple county,” he said. “We are in the middle and we are not being represented by a purple council.”

Voters could soon change that. Democrats see the potential to pick up possibly two seats on the county council in the upcoming election.

Eric Holt, a manager at a mining company and a Hockinson resident, has received endorsements from labor and other elected Democrats in his bid for chair. Democrats are also eyeing the District 1 council seat. Currently held by Stewart, who was elected countywide, the seat will now be filled by voters from Vancouver’s urban west side. As a result, Democrats are hopeful that either former Clark County Freeholder Temple Lentz or longtime state Rep. Jim Moeller takes the seat.

Boldt, who left the Republican Party after being censured by its leadership, explained that the role of the county is to fulfill mandates handed down by the Legislature and that party affiliation isn’t as relevant at the local level. Boldt previously served as a Republican County commissioner along with Democrats Steve Stuart and Betty Sue Morris, both of whom he got along with.

“Partisanship is not nearly as big a factor at the local government level as it is with the state,” Morris said.

But she said that differences do emerge in how the county implements those responsibilities. She said one of those areas might be homelessness and human services, an issue she said that Democrats see the government as having a clear role to play.

During an interview with The Columbian’s Editorial Board last month, Lentz called on the county to take a more active role in confronting rising homelessness and to even consider asking voters for a housing and homelessness levy, similar to the one Vancouver passed in 2016.

State Rep. Sharon Wylie, a Vancouver Democrat who has endorsed Holt, said that Republicans tend to be more pro-development and that having more Democratic voices on the council could bring better balance growth with environmental concerns.

“I think where you might see some ideology or perspective is around land use and the Growth Management Act,” said Olson, who added that having thoughtful people on the council matters more than party affiliation.

All the Democrats running for county council support lifting the county’s prohibition on recreational marijuana businesses. They’re also comfortable with levying taxes.

Under state law, counties can raise their property tax levy by 1 percent each year. In the last two years, the Republican-dominated council has voted in favor of the increase.

“At the county level, when we talk about the 1 percent, to me that’s just managing the tools we have available,” said Blom.

Holt said that he’s also in favor of taking the 1 percent increase. Lentz, in the interview with the editorial board, took it further and said she would be in favor of taking “banked capacity,” or increases from years the county didn’t take the 1 percent increase. Olson said there’s no appetite on the council for further increases.

One of the big drivers of county expenses is increasing labor costs. The council periodically signs contracts with organized labor. While labor groups have shown an active interest in council races, Boldt said that these agreements are negotiated with the county manager and human resources.

But Shannon Walker, the president of the Southwest Washington Central Labor Council, said that it makes a difference to have a council supportive of labor. She pointed to how former Republican Clark County Councilor David Madore floated a local right-to-work policy.

“They have influence and if their influence is fighting against working people, we have a problem with that,” she said.

Lasher, the county’s longtime Democratic treasurer, said that having a greater variety of perspectives on the council matters because it could encourage people to be more engaged with their local government.

“I think that it’s best for government to have different opinions about how to govern because they are developing policies and when you have it go all down one path you’re not doing justice to the entire county,” he said.