Battle Ground City Council will have to pick a new member ahead of the seat’s election this year as councilor and former mayor Mike Dalesandro announced his resignation last week.
During Battle Ground City Council’s June 7 meeting, Dalesandro told fellow councilors of his decision, effective the following day.
“I’m relocating out of the area and it’s happening rather quickly,” Dalesandro said at the meeting, adding it was for a new job opportunity.
In social media posts, he confirmed he would be moving to Ohio.
“I thought it was best to concentrate my efforts outside of normal working hours to getting ready to get out of town here as quick as I can,” Dalesandro said.
Dalesandro moved to Battle Ground more than 16 years ago and was first elected to the council Position 5 seat in 2013, defeating then-mayor Lisa Walters. He ran unopposed in 2017 and served as Battle Ground mayor for 2018 and 2019.
“I think the city’s in great shape,” Dalesandro said. “We’ve got a good council and great staff and things are moving forward.”
Current Mayor Adrian Cortes thanked Dalesandro for his service to Battle Ground “as both a councilor and just an overall citizen.”
“We wish you the best in a new adventure,” Cortes said.
Back in January, Dalesandro announced he would not be seeking re-election to city council this year, around the same time he stepped into two new roles: Clark County Charter Review Commission co-chair and Clark County Democratic Party chair. At that time, he said the decision not to run wasn’t because of career opportunities, but was chiefly about how long he had served.
“I felt like two terms was a good time to step away,” Dalesandro said, noting his 13 years of total involvement with the city, including five on its planning commission and the two-year stint as mayor.
Two candidates have filed to fill Dalesandro’s seat — Neil Butler, a city planning commission member and prior council candidate in 2019, and Tricia Davis. Prior to the election, the city must appoint a replacement by Sept. 6, city manager Erin Erdman wrote in an email.
Though as of June 11 a firm timeline had not been approved, Erdman said the city would request applications for the position the following week with a deadline at the end of the month. The city will review applications in a closed session and may choose to have interviews of the applicants in an open public meeting. Should the city not make a decision by the deadline, it would fall to the Clark County Council to decide.
Dalesandro has also resigned from the charter review co-chair position and as local Democratic Party chair. For his duties on the charter review commission, District 2 commissioner Chuck Green was elected by fellow commissioners to fill the co-chair position with near-unanimous support.
Dalesandro’s at-large seat on the commission remains unfilled, though the county began the application process to fill it. As the position is at-large, anyone within Clark County can apply. Following the noon deadline for applications on June 25, the commission will discuss applicants at their June 30 meeting.
The charter review commission comprises 15 county residents who are tasked with proposing amendments to the Clark County Charter, the county’s governing document. Dalesandro and other commissioners were elected during the 2020 General Election.
As for Dalesandro’s position as Clark County Democratic Party Chair, the party will hold nominations and elections for the position on July 12, vice-chair Shannon Myers wrote in a social media post.
