The Clark County Council may be whole again as soon as next week.
On Tuesday, the council is planning to ask questions of the three candidates nominated to replace Eileen Quiring who gave up her seat on the county council to begin her term as council chair earlier this year. The council could vote as soon as Tuesday afternoon on who will represent the sprawling rural council district that Quiring, a Republican, carried in 2016 with 62 percent of the vote.
The three replacement candidates nominated by the local Republican Party include airline pilot and frequent transportation commentator John Ley, GOP activist Brook Pell and Gary Medvigy, a newcomer to the county who previously served as a judge and U.S. Army general.
“People have chosen to live here for a reason, and my job is to understand what they want from their government and how to represent them,” said Ley, who was nominated Jan. 15 with 61 votes from the 117 Republican precinct committee officers present.
Each of the candidates said they need to learn more about the inner workings of county government. They’ve all expressed a desire for more property rights and loosening the urban growth boundary to make housing more affordable.
“I feel like the comp plan has limited growth to the point where it’s causing our houses prices to skyrocket,” said Pell, who was nominated with 63 votes on a second ballot.
They’re resistant to tax hikes and want to bring greater scrutiny to the county’s budget while attracting jobs and improving transportation infrastructure.
“I want to do everything I can so that Clark County and Vancouver are seen as destinations in itself whether for business or families and not just a suburb of Portland,” said Medvigy, who was nominated with 59 votes.
While each of the candidates have similar political outlooks, they’ve traveled different paths that they’re hoping will lead to the Clark County Council.
John Ley
A 63-year-old airline pilot who’s lived in Camas for 13 years, Ley said that the council should work as a team using each councilor’s skill set and passions. Ley said that if appointed to the council, he would be “details guy.”
“The name of the game is to, No. 1, be responsible to the people, and, No. 2, to dig into the details,” said Ley.
Speaking at a meeting of the Clark County Republican Party Central Committee meeting on Tuesday evening, Ley said that he got his start in local politics opposing the Columbia River Crossing, a proposed replacement of the Interstate 5 Bridge that was terminated in 2013. More recently, he’s spoken out against Oregon’s plans to toll part of the interstate freeway system in the Portland area. He’s also been a critic of the current effort to replace the I-5 Bridge, instead calling for a third bridge.
Previously, Ley ran for the Legislature and was involved in an unsuccessful lawsuit to prevent C-Tran from using tax revenue from previous ballot measures to pay for bus rapid transit.
Ley said he’d work on making sure transportation corridors accommodate growth in the county, pointing to Clark County’s expansions of state Highways 502 and 14.
When asked about budgeting and taxes, Ley mentioned how recent annexations by Vancouver have cost the county millions in revenue. He said the county didn’t seem to put up much of a fight. He said that he talked to some annexed homeowners who were dismayed they weren’t given a vote and were instead annexed under a utility covenant.
“To me, as a process, it seems very, very wrong,” he said.
Last month, Ley filed a petition in Clark County Superior Court contesting a 2016 order from the state Department of Financial Institutions that he pay a $50,000 fine for selling unregistered securities and not registering as a security broker. Ley said that it will take 12 to 18 months for his petition to be settled and that he expects to prevail.
“Bottom line is that at the end of the day, none of my clients claimed there was fraud, none of my clients lost money, none of my clients claimed that I had done anything wrong,” said Ley.
According to his petition, following the bankruptcy of Delta Air Lines, Ley got involved with Life Partners Inc., a Texas-based company that purchased people’s life insurance policies and sold them as “life settlement products” to investors.
Ley’s petition states that the department had previously determined that it was not necessary to have a securities license to sell the settlement products and had not deemed them as securities. The department investigated Ley in 2007 and 2010 but determined that settlement products were not securities and took no enforcement action against him, according to the petition.
Between 2006 and 2014, Ley sold millions of dollars worth of settlement products, earning about $500,000 in commissions, according to a 2018 administrative review order. But after Life Partners Inc. went bankrupt, the department took action against Ley and others for selling unregistered securities.
While the 2016 order from the department states that he made misleading claims to investors, Ley said that he disclosed risks and even showed clients negative press coverage of the products.
“I have nothing to hide,” said Ley. “But in my mind, it shouldn’t be the critical issue.”
Brook Pell
Pell has been a familiar face in local Republican party politics. She serves as the party’s vice chair and is president of the Clark County Republican Women. She was also the co-chair of Quiring’s successful campaign for Clark County Council chair.
Quiring has endorsed Pell for her old seat, saying that she’s best suited to represent the council’s most conservative district. Pell said that while she is conservative, she won’t vote in lock-step with anyone.
“I want to hear all sides and will make an informed decision on what is best for the district I grew up in,” said Pell.
Pell, a 35-year-old resident of Camas, grew up in Washougal and works as the chief operating officer for a construction company. In a statement announcing her candidacy, Pell indicated she wanted to attract job creators to the county, address transportation issues, adequately fund law enforcement and infrastructure while promoting “lean and efficient government.”
She said that she has not dug into the details of the county budget but said she did not think she would vote to raise taxes as the county council has done for the last three years. She said she would instead look for ways to make government more efficient.
Pell said that while the county should look into opening its growth boundary to help with housing costs, she said “we have to do it smart” and not create unmitigated sprawl. She also said she would like to work on homelessness, but didn’t have any exact proposals in mind.
During the last election, Pell worked on Elisabeth Veneman’s campaign against incumbent Republican Councilor Julie Olson. She said she’s not worried that her involvement with Veneman’s campaign will affect her relationship with Olson and has already met with her to discuss county issues.
“We’re all adults,” she said.
In 2014, Pell and her husband, Sascha, filed for bankruptcy. She said her family was hit hard after the recession of 2008. She said they felt it was best to start over with a clean slate and are now doing well after lots of hard work.
“I would think we are the average American,” said Pell.
Gary Medvigy
Before moving to Fern Prairie outside of Camas in late 2016, Gary Medvigy said that he and wife searched all over the country for the best place to retire. He said they looked at qualify of life, taxes, political climate and the people.
“I would say whether Republican or not, the people around here are great people,” said Medvigy, 62.
A retired California Superior Court judge and U.S. Army major general, Medvigy said he was eyeing other government posts and decided to pursue the open county seat. Despite being a newcomer to the county, Medvigy said that when he submitted his application and resume for the appointment, he started getting calls and emails from people wanting to meet him. On Tuesday, Republican precinct committee officers voted to nominate Medvigy over more established figures seeking the appointment, including Battle Ground Deputy Mayor Shane Bowman and former county Councilor Tom Mielke.
Medvigy said that while he’s had high-profile military assignments in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Korea and has worked with the United Nations and other international agencies, he doesn’t see taking a job on the county council as a step down in responsibility.
Noting the complexity of local issues, he said that his past work has required him to work with a wide variety of people, which he said would translate well into the job of a county councilor.
Medvigy said he’s been “cramming” on issues facing Clark County government and has been digging into the county’s budget. He said that if appointed, he would ask for a comprehensive study of the county’s workforce in hopes of finding efficiencies. He also said that if Clark County’s growth plan was working the county wouldn’t be in a structural deficit because its tax base would provide enough revenue.
“The whole end game here is to keep the cost of living low and to keep the quality of life high,” said Medvigy.
When making his case to precinct committee officers on Tuesday, Medvigy told those gathered that he and his wife moved to Clark County from California to be among other “like-minded people.” He invoked President Ronald Reagan and called President Donald Trump “the great reformer” while denouncing the Democratic Party as a paternalistic force associated with “slavery” and “welfare.”
But despite delivering such a partisan speech, Medvigy said that he is a very civil and collegial person.
“We are all stronger working together,” he said.
