Veteran politician and businessman Joe Tanner, 65, puts the need for jobs in the forefront of his campaign for Clark County commissioner. He is motivated to run, he said, because of the county’s 11 percent unemployment rate and the need for jobs.
Democrat Tanner has filed for Commissioner District 1.
The formula for job creation, said Tanner, is to turn the innovations that come from universities and family garages into businesses that employ citizens.
Tanner says the county needs a regional center of growth and innovation in information technology. He wants to expand the economic development influences of Washington State University Vancouver and Clark College. He proposes to make Clark County a hub for international investment by “aggressively promoting Clark County as a center of international business opportunity.
Tanner served as the first president of the Columbia River Economic Development Council, an organization that seeks to bring businesses and employment to Clark County. As a state legislator, he sponsored a bill to create a statewide economic development task force. Today, Tanner sees a vacuum in the county as regards to economic development.
Tanner believes he can build a coalition among the commissioners and state representatives and that such a coalition could be effective in advancing programs that would benefit Clark County employment. He said permits for new businesses take too long to be issued.
Tanner said the current commissioners have worked on peripheral issues as regards to jobs. “I want to move the big pieces around the chess board,” he said. He said a coalition of elected officials could obtain legislative action to settle the county’s legal wranglings over its stormwater plan.
In addition to the jobs issue, Tanner says North Clark County “often draws the short straw.” He said Clark County competes against its cities, rather than working with them, in recruiting businesses. He faulted the county for moving forward on excessive regulations of agriculture. And he said the commissioners have not selected members of the board of the Fort Vancouver Regional Library District who would support proportionate spending at rural and urban libraries.
On other issues, Tanner said:
• The continuing Columbia River Crossing project that has resulted in a plan for a new I-5 bridge “has been a terribly flawed process” with limited input from the county commissioners. Federal support, he says, is primarily for light rail. He supports a third bridge located somewhere other than I-5.
• The county code that deals with areas outside urban growth boundaries should be entirely re-written. Such rules should be the least restrictive and the minimum required by state and federal authorities.
Biography
Tanner grew up in a small town in Texas. He joined the U.S. Navy in 1966 and served 27 months in Vietnam. He was discharged in 1970.
Tanner attended a community college in California, then earned a degree from Harvard University in 1973. In 1976 he earned a law degree from the University of Texas.
Tanner worked for a Seattle law firm for two years, then moved to Clark County in 1979 where he bought an interest in a concrete systems company.
Tanner served in the state legislature from 1983 until 1989, both as a state representative and as a senator. He lost to Linda Smith in 1988. He then became managing partner of a Vancouver law firm.
Since then, Tanner has served as president-international of a diaper manufacturing company, senior vice president of an electronics manufacturing company, and senior vice president of a company that develops medical and bio-tech products. He is now 50 percent owner of a convenience store chain.
Tanner and his wife, Sharyn, have been married for 42 years and have three grown children.
Tanner may be reached at (360) 910-1600.
