Brown: Top picks for charter review
Longtime residents and those interested in local politics will remember when Clark County’s government was ruled by a troika led by David Madore, who bears similarities to Donald Trump. Eventually the public said enough and instituted a home rule county charter, which replaced the troika with a professional county manager and five elected county councilors who set policy. The charter calls for a public election of commissioners to review it periodically, and that is what we are doing this year.
Those 15 races are more hotly contested than most races for what are arguably more important seats on city councils, school boards and fire districts. It doesn’t take long to see why: many of the contestants are affiliated or endorsed by the Republicans or Democrats, and some appear to represent special interest groups. I had a look through the candidates’ materials and offer this list of those who impressed me the most:
District 1 (West-central Vancouver): Patrick Adigweme, Ann Donnelly and Eric LaBrant. Adigweme, endorsed by Democrats, chairs the Vancouver Planning Commission and is involved in a bunch of community boards, including those supporting Vancouver Public Schools. He knows governance and our community.
Donnelly, a Columbian opinion columnist and former county GOP chair, brings a conservative perspective, lots of local history and useful knowledge of mental health and law enforcement, where the county spends the bulk of its dollars.
LaBrant, endorsed by the Democrats, is a Port of Vancouver commissioner and Fruit Valley neighborhood activist, with a strong record of public service.
District 2 (Hazel Dell/Felida): Cathie Garber. Under the leadership of Auditor Greg Kimsey, Garber directed the Clark County Elections Office for 15 years, one of the best run in the country. She deeply understands the county charter and the charter review process. Although endorsed by the Democrats, I suspect she has seen enough of both parties’ shenanigans to bring a nonpartisan stance to her work.
District 3 (east Vancouver): Janet Landsberg. Active in the Democratic party and the League of Women Voters, Landsberg is a retired attorney who worked as an administrative law judge for the Social Security Administration. Her successful activism is probably the main reason the long sound wall was included as part of the Highway 14 widening project completed last year; she and her husband live the Fairway Village neighborhood. She’s also served on Vancouver’s charter review committee.
District 4 (Camas-Washougal): Dorothy Gasque. If the name sounds familiar, Gasque ran for Congress as a Democrat in 2018, but more importantly, she served on the last county charter review committee five years ago. In her Voters’ Pamphlet statement, she talks about her work on that committee to strengthen ethics rules for county councilors, a subject that she knows needs to be addressed again. A military veteran, Gasque has experience in the nonprofit sector.
District 5 (Battle Ground, Ridgefield, La Center): John Zingale and Duncan Hoss. Zingale has a little political experience, having run for the Legislature as a Democrat, but would bring a invaluable perspective from his work in teaching U.S. and Washington history and civics to middle-schoolers. For that work, Zingale has been named both state and national teacher of the year.
Hoss, who has been endorsed by Republicans, has worked for the Clark County Sheriff’s Office for 33 years, and is currently the chief civil deputy. He knows county government, collaborative work and fiscal responsibility. In his Voters’ Pamphlet statement, he pledges to work diligently to find opportunities for greater efficiency in county government. He will have the perfect background to do this.
As you can see, I didn’t find an impressive candidate in every race. But I did find quite a few candidates with whom I am not impressed. I’ll list them, and tell you why, in my next column.
