SIX CANDIDATES running for elected positions participated in a candidate forum on Oct. 1 Those who participated included (from left to right) Philip Johnson and Candy Bonneville (Battle Ground City Council Position No. 7); Dick Rylander and Mavis Nickels (Battle Ground School Board of Directors District No. 4); and Marc Boldt and Mike Dalesandro (Clark County Council Chair position).
PICTURED HERE are Dick Rylander and Mavis Nickels, candidates running for the Battle Ground School Board Director District No. 4 position.
PHILIP JOHNSON and Candy Bonneville are the two candidates running for Battle Ground City Council Position No. 7 in the Nov. 3 General Election.
MARC BOLDT and Mike Dalesandro are running for the position of Clark County Council Chair.
BRUSH PRAIRIE - Six candidates who are running for elected positions in Clark County in the Nov. 3 General Election discussed their views on different city, school and county issues during a candidate forum hosted by the Battle Ground Chamber of Commerce and the Clark County League of Women Voters on Oct. 1.
The candidate forum took place at The Cedars on Salmon Creek and included six different participating candidates: Mavis Nickels and Dick Rylander, running for Battle Ground School Board Director District No. 4 position; Philip Johnson and Candy Bonneville, running for Battle Ground City Council Position No. 7; and Marc Boldt and Mike Dalesandro, running for the Clark County Council Chair position.
The forum began with introductions and questions for the Battle Ground School Board candidates Dick Rylander and Mavis Nickels. Rylander introduced himself to the crowd by saying there are three words he wants voters to associate with him: trust, change and customize. Nickels, the incumbent, started by saying there are 13,000 reasons (students) for her to want to continue to serve in her school board position.
When addressing what they believe are the top issues facing the Battle Ground School District, both Nickels and Rylander brought up facilities and planning for the future growth of the district.
The two were also asked how they would support students in the district who are not expecting to attend college. Both Nickels and Rylander emphasized the need to expand the district’s Career & Technical Education (CTE) program, as well as other alternative programs like programs at the CASEE Center and the ROTC programs.
“Some people just don’t want to go on to college,” Rylander said. “The reality is that we need to identify those people early on.”
“Not every student is going to obtain the same thing,” NIckels said. “Every child has a story to tell, a goal they’ve set, and as board members we need to make sure their voices are heard.”
The two candidates for the Battle Ground City Council Position, Philip Johnson and Candy Bonneville, addressed questions including if they would support Battle Ground having its own port district, what they think the pros and cons of a Transportation Benefit District (TBD) are and what they think are the biggest issues currently facing the city of Battle Ground.
Johnson, the incumbent, said he doesn’t think there are any cons to the TBD.
“It’s a conservative idea that you pay for what you use,” Johnson said. “It’s basically 40 cents a week to put asphalt in front of your house. If we don’t fix our own roads, who’s going to fix them for us?”
Bonneville said that although the overall cost to do the road work in the city isn’t a huge impact to citizens individually, the issue for her was that there had to be another tax created within the city because of the fact that the work couldn’t be funded by the normal budget.
As to what issues are currently facing Battle Ground, Bonneville said her main concerns are the growth coming to the city and managing it, and also managing the budget. She also feels it will be important to try to get businesses to come to the city. Johnson also brought up issues of growth and being able to manage that growth including issues such as traffic and water and sewer.
The last two candidates to address questions at the forum were Marc Boldt and Mike Dalesandro, who are running for the Clark County Council Chair position. There is also a Write-In Liz Pike for county chair campaign that is endorsed by the Clark County Republican Party. Pike is not actively campaigning and did not attend the forum.
Dalesandro said his reasons for running for the position included that it was time for the county to move forward and put the past behind.
The two candidates were asked how they felt about waiving community development and impact fees. Boldt said he thinks fee waivers should never really be in the mix.
“Anytime a government gives you money, they almost always want something,” Boldt said. “Fee waivers will hurt our economy, and people building homes will be paying too much.”
Dalesandro said he also does not support the fee waiver program.
“There were over $9 million in fees waived that the county could have collected,” Dalesandro said. “We need that money for things like infrastructure that are critical. We are short changing ourselves in the long run. Growth pays for growth.”
When asked what services he would cut in the county if necessary, Boldt said that the county has so many needs right now that it would be just “plum crazy” to suggest cutting services.
“We’re continuing to grow,” Boldt said. “I would fight my hardest to keep what we have and grow.”
Dalesandro raised the current proposal being considered by county councilors to cut property taxes by 2 percent in 2016, saying he would fight hard to defeat that if he’s elected.
“We could have an $11 million deficit by 2020,” Dalesandro said. “The idea I put out there to dissolve the Department of Environmental Services could save an estimated $700,000.”
The General Election is coming up Nov. 3. Information on these and other candidates can be found in the voters’ pamphlet at http://www.clark.wa.gov/elections/documents/General2015LocalVotersPamphlet.pdf .
More candidate forums scheduled
Area residents will have three more opportunities to learn more about the candidates for positions on the ballot for the Nov. 3 General Election.
The League of Women Voters of Clark County is sponsoring a candidate forum on Wed., Oct. 7 at the Ridgefield Community Center, 201 N. Main Ave., Ridgefield, from 6-8 p.m. Candidates vying for city of La Center mayor (Greg Thornton and Al Luiz), city of Ridgefield Council Position No. 2 (David Taylor and Maria Salazar), Cemetery District No. 6 (Stephen Root and James Landon), Clark County District 2 (Julie Olson and Chuck Green) and Woodland City Council (Position 4: Karl Chapman and Grover Laseke; Position 5: JJ Burke and Susan Humbyrd; Position 7: Mike Benjamin and Matthew Jacobs) races will appear. For more information, contact Judy Hudson at (360) 253-7712 or judy-hudson@comcast.net.
The Neighborhood Associations Council of Clark County will host a candidate forum on Thu., Oct. 8, 7-9 p.m. at the Community of Christ meeting room, 400 NE 179th St., Ridgefield. Candidates participating will be those for the Clark County Council chair position (Mike Dalesandro and Marc Boldt) and Clark County District 2 (Olson and Green). For more information, contact Doug Ballou at (360) 573-3314 or dougballou@comcast.net.
On Sat., Oct. 10, the La Center Grange – located at 328 W. 5th St. in La Center – will be the site of a candidate forum from 3-6 p.m. Candidates participating will include those in the race for Clark County Council District 2 (Olson and Green) and Clark County Council chair (Dalesandro and Boldt) . For more information, contact Greg Smith (360) 263-4626 or lacentergrange@gmail.com.
