We’re off to chart a new course

Posted

In the weeks leading up to the Nov. 3 General Election, I believed there was more than enough intrigue present to capture the interest of a majority of Clark County voters, but apparently I was wrong.

As of Friday, the Clark County Elections Department reported that 82,703 ballots had been counted and another 2,300 were estimated to be left to count. Voter turnout was 32.88 percent, about 10 percent lower than expected. Remember only 24.67 percent, or 61,854 voters, bothered to turn in a ballot for the Aug. 4 Primary Election.

That is surprising to me. We can all guess at the reasons for the voter apathy, but personally, I don’t think it’s just a Clark County problem. I believe a lack of engagement exists across the nation.

I have a good friend who – at times – eats, sleeps and drinks politics. He reads everything he can find on the internet, mostly national stuff, often times staying up all night reading and sharing his thoughts on social media. He loves to debate with those who disagree with his observations. I would never debate him, I don’t have to because we pretty much share the same ideology, but I wouldn’t Ebecause he is one of those guys who is loaded with a ridiculous amount of supporting information to back up his point of view.

He is a couple of years older than me. He said he became interested in politics, and primarily in economics, about 20 years ago. An older brother of his opened the door of enlightenment for my friend and when he did, he did so with a warning. My friend’s older brother told him the more he learns, the more frustrated he would become by everything that is wrong with the world. I agree with that premise and I believe that is why so many people just don’t get involved in politics. So many of us view it as broken beyond repair.

Elections results

Some people want to paint the 2015 General Election as a disaster for Conservative Republicans. I don’t view it that way. Sure, the Liz Pike write-in campaign fell short but the guy who was elected as the county chair, Marc Boldt, is still currently a Republican Precinct Committee Officer.

Is Boldt a Republican? Is he a Democrat? I really don’t have any idea. He stated no party preference in his campaign for the position. I still have the first email (March 30, 2015) he sent The Reflector announcing his candidacy for the chair position, he boldly wrote, “I am running as a conservative republican.’’

I wish Boldt was still a member of the Republican party. I think he would be had the Clark County GOP not pointed him to the door in 2012 when the Executive Board sanctioned him. I don’t agree with every decision Boldt has made, but I do respect the man and I can sleep just fine at night with him on the verge of assuming the chair position. You might hear me squawk a little if he backs light rail, raises taxes or wakes up some day and finally decides he is, indeed, a Democrat.

Not only am I at peace with Boldt as the county chair, we should also remember that there are three Republicans already sitting on the County Council and another Republican, Julie Olson, was just elected to the newly created District 2 position. It appears Olson, just like current councilor Jeanne Stewart, rests a little closer to center than the far right, but nevertheless I still see a lot of Rs up there on that dais.

Other thoughts



I felt there were a couple of surprises in the 2015 General Election. Knowing the city of La Center the way I do, I was fairly certain Al Luiz was going to win the race for mayor, but he was soundly defeated by Greg Thornton.

I’ve enjoyed my interactions with Luiz over the years, but I do believe this is good for the city of La Center. For years I’ve been crying out for someone to wake up in La Center and address the many issues that exist there and have largely been ignored for so long. The problems among  employees in various city departments have been well chronicled by this newspaper in recent years and I believe there will be some more news on that front in the very near future.

In La Center, the only person in a position to do anything about personnel issues is the mayor and for years Jim Irish refused to do anything about the city’s many problems in that area. I know that won’t be the case with Thornton, who enters the job not beholden to anybody.

Thornton is also an economics guy and I believe he will lead La Center in its attempt to diversify its tax base, including plans to develop the city’s land near the I-5 junction and address the financial albatross that is the Wastewater Treatment Plant.

I was also surprised Woodland Mayor Grover Laseke was defeated so soundly by newcomer Karl Chapman in his bid for a City Council seat. I believe many people were still sore about Laseke’s push to make the mayor’s position full-time so soon after he was elected as mayor. I never completely understood that resentment, considering Laseke essentially worked for about 30 percent of what an appropriate salary for the job would be. Woodland, and La Center too, really needs either a full-time mayor or city administrator and Laseke filled that void while the members of the City Council were dragging their feet on creating the city administrator position.

Woodland, like La Center, has had its share of personnel disputes in recent years and I believe Laseke was also hurt by that.

Well, hopefully now we can all exhale and move forward now that the election has passed.

Ken Vance

Editor