Several of the candidates for three open seats on Battle Ground City Council have similar ideas on the biggest issues facing the municipality.
Five of the nine candidates for the seats made their cases for election or reelection during a League of Women Voters candidate forum hosted at one of Clark-Cowlitz Fire Rescue’s stations July 6.
Of the nine candidates who filed, five took part in the forum. Two of the candidates told the League of Women Voters they were not actively campaigning, while two others were not present for the event.
On major issues such as growth and transportation, candidates had similar focuses on what was most important to the city. There were nuances, such as the sole incumbent’s ability to draw from past experience in respect to his competition. But one notion was true: growth, and its effects, were paramount among a councilor’s concerns.
Position 2
Longtime councilor Shane Bowman answered questions alongside challenger and former city council candidate Josh VanGelder. Candidate C.R. Wiley, who did not provide any information for the voter’s pamphlet, was not present for the forum.
Bowman noted he has been on the council for 12 years.
“I think it’s important that we have somebody that has a historical perspective, has been here, has done it,” Bowman said.
He noted there was the potential for four to five of the seven councilors to have been sworn in for the first time following the 2021 election. Given that potential, he wanted someone with institutional knowledge to remain.
Bowman mentioned the city has support of a police force that has the most officers per capita of any in Southwest Washington.
“Make no mistake, our police are fully-funded,” Bowman said.
He countered potential jabs regarding the city’s handling of growth as an inevitability.
“The reason we have growth is because Battle Ground is a great community,” Bowman said.
Bowman is a committee member for the organization now running Battle Ground’s Harvest Days after the city’s chamber of commerce folded several years back.
“We did that because it was indeed needed to be a city event that needed to continue to run,” Bowman said.
The sitting city councilor mentioned how tough it was dealing with state-level forces on the city’s current project, that of rebuilding the state Route 503/Main Street intersection.
“That project should be completely done, but we’re only in phase 2,” Bowman said.
Bowman’s competitor agreed with many of Bowman’s statements during the forum.
VanGelder said he was a “big believer in representative government,” during the forum.
He took aim at long-term councilors, saying things get “stagnant” when the position looks more like a career.
“I think it’s good to have fresh ideas come in, rotate through, and be able to build off the historical momentum that we’ve had, but also bring in new perspectives,” VanGelder said.
VanGelder said law enforcement has been understaffed “for a long time” and needed improvement. This was something Bowman disproved.
Acknowledging a city council position had localized jurisdiction, VanGelder mentioned terms he had previously used when running campaigns or making public statements against the council status quo. When he ran in 2019, he cited opposition to a then-recently-passed gun restriction law, and in 2021 in his second attempt, he spoke out against COVID-19 restrictions.
“The primary responsibility of any elected official is to preserve the rights of the individual citizens and protect their freedoms,” VanGelder said.
VanGelder said expanding the area where new homes could be built would alleviate the “suburb feel” of recent developments. He didn’t take into account whether or not taxpayers wanted to pay for where the roads were, such as where families have children when a potentially busy road would be going in.
VanGelder appealed to those who saw development they didn’t like.
“I know that a lot of us were less than thrilled when a Walmart shows up on our front step here or a large storage unit, but there are things we need to accept in terms of that, while also focusing on our priorities,” VanGelder said.
Position 3
The most recent addition to Battle Ground City Council had none of his challengers present to contrast his policy points against. Councilor Dan Dingman, who was appointed to the position last month to replace former councilor Shauna Walters, answered the same questions as the other candidates present.
Dingman faces Victoria Ferrer and Craig Wigginton on the ballot in August. Wigginton told the League of Women Voters he had suspended his campaign, while Ferrer did not make an appearance at the forum.
Dingman hoped the lack of challenge to his newly-appointed seat was a sign of his potential success. As a resident for 23 years who was recently retired from job in the paper industry after 35 years, he wanted to move.
“I just have a real love for this city, and I want to bring those skills that I had in my day job, now that I’m retired,” Dingman said.
Dingman said the city has doubled in size since he moved there.
“How we grow is the key thing that I want to work on,” Dingman said.
He wanted architectural consistency with new development, mentioning he didn’t want multifamily developments going near large single-family lots.
He noted he wanted those water and sewer increases in service.
“I live in probably the most northeast house in all of Battle Ground, so when Main (Street) backs up, I don’t go anywhere,” Dingman said.
Acknowledging his own roads weren’t up to what he’d like to see, Dingman didn’t believe it was a fault of the current efforts.
“I think we’re doing a good job with what we have,” Dingman said.
Dingman realized the inevitability of big-box stores like Walmart being the dominant retail drivers of the city. He said he would still be a supporter of the smaller entities.
Dingman was up-front about accepting the LGBTQ community.
“I don’t have to be comfortable with your lifestyle to show you respect, and vice versa,” Dingman said.
“Everybody brings value. Everybody has gifts. Everybody has something that they can bring to this city to make it a better place,” Dingman added.
Position 7
Current mayor and position 7 seatholder Philip Johnson will be ending his long term career as a city leader as he is not seeking re-election for another term. In his place, both previous city council candidate Josie Calderon and newcomer Eric Joe Overholser took part in the forum. Fellow challenger Max Booth told the League of Women Voters he is not actively campaigning for the role.
Candidate Josie Calderon saw the city council position as a progression from her work on both the parks and community engagement advisory board and the city planning commission.
She also referenced her time as one of 12 “navigators” — Battle Ground residents who in 2018 were tasked with coming up with a visioning plan for the city.
Calderon said she grew up in a community that was not as safe as what Battle Ground is.
“Battle Ground’s a great, amazing place where we have access to our police,” Calderon said.
She mentioned her involvement in the usual functions on multiple times, such as on the planning commission. She said it took time to put utility planning in place.
“There is one (plan) in place, we just have to make sure that we continue to follow through with it,” Calderon said.
Calderon was a proponent of more roads in the city, reasoning it would help alleviate the traffic woes.
“I think that we definitely need to come together and find a solution to putting in more roads,” Calderon said.
She said it took seven years to get road improvements on the road she lives on.
“I think we do need to budget a little bit more to allocate more for our pot for our roads,” Calderon said.
Her opponent, Eric Joe Overholser, said he was for “balance” in whatever the city did.
“I’m very involved in our community. I think it’s time to step out and have the capacity on the council to represent the wonderful people in it,” Overholser said.
The second-term precinct committee officer for the Republican Party and director of a homelessness outreach program said he participates in youth sports organizations. He agreed with the other candidates more than he didn’t.
“We can’t compromise the feel of Battle Ground and the people in our community that we have currently,” Overholser said.
He said public safety was high among his focuses.
“Where people feel safe, people feel they have the ability to thrive and operate businesses and live the American way,” Overholser said.
As would be his refrain during the forum, Overholser said growth was an issue of “balance.”
“We don’t want to become a neighborhood or a suburb of Portland,” Overholser said.
