Council member Brian Munson to seek reelection

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Brian Munson, Battle Ground City Council Position No.1, told The Reflector last week that he is launching a bid for reelection. 

Munson has served on the council since last July, when he was appointed to fill Lyle Lamb’s seat, who moved away to pursue a business opportunity. 

“My motivation would be for economic development — for proper growth (in Battle Ground),” Munson said when asked what has inspired him to seek reelection. “Not just to be a bedroom community to Vancouver. Battle Ground, I believe, has its own identity and it’s my vision to make sure that Battle Ground is its own unique city and that it has the opportunity not for just population growth, but for business growth — to create living wage jobs for the citizens within Battle Ground.” 

Munson also highlighted transparency and fiscal responsibility as two ideals he will continue to strive toward and will make a focal point during his coming campaign. 

“It’s about holding the city accountable and making sure we’re not being irresponsible with the funds that we do have; to make sure the taxpayers are represented in a proper way,” he said. “Our citizens have expectations — we 

need to do the best job we can to meet those expectations.” 

Before joining the council Munson had served as chair of the city’s planning commission for a year and had been a part of the commission for over two and a half years, overall. 

Munson has lived in Clark County for over 40 years and in Battle Ground for over 15 of those. He is married to his “high school sweetheart” Lauren, and they have four children together. Along with serving on the council, Munson has worked as an operator for BNSF Railway for over 18 years. 

During his time in Battle Ground, Munson has been active as a youth sports coach and board member and has helped various non-profits. His community involvement along with his time on the planning commission and experience on the city council have spurred his reelection bid and belief that he is the right person to hold the seat. 

“With my community service, and the education I’ve gained from it, I believe I am qualified to represent the citizens of Battle Ground,” he said.  



Prior to Munson’s announcement, incumbent Battle Ground City Councilmember Mike Dalesandro also announced a reelection bid, for Position No. 5 on the council — a seat that he has held since the start of his term in January 2014. 

“Battle Ground is a great community. I’ve been honored to serve on City Council these past few years. There's still more work to do and I’m very optimistic about the future of our city," said Dalesandro in the reelection announcement from his campaign team. 

The reelection announcement addressed a number of issues facing Battle Ground and Dalesandro’s stance on them. 

Of wages and taxes, the statement says that “Dalesandro is an advocate of living within our means and responsible spending. He’s consistently voted against raising property taxes. Mike has supported policies that have reduced city debt and saved Battle Ground taxpayers millions.” Dalesandro is quoted in the statement as saying, “We’ve navigated through some rough times, but the city is recovering and on the right path.” 

The reelection announcement also referenced Dalesandro as “a champion of infrastructure improvements and growth planning,” and quoted him as saying, “We are finally fixing South Parkway. We are beginning a major traffic congestion relief project on Main Street. I want to focus on taking care of what we have and investing in projects that will accommodate growth.” 

In regards to jobs, one of Dalesandro’s goals is to increase family wage jobs. 

“I want the city recruiting employers and using the new Battle Ground Highway to spur economic development to create good paying jobs,” he says. 

Dalesandro has been a Battle Ground resident for many years with wife Angie and their two children. He currently works as a supply chain analyst for Boise Paper in Vancouver and sits on the C-TRAN Board of Directors. Like Munson, Dalesandro was also on the Battle Ground Planning Commission before joining the council.