All Politics is Local
The county council opened its gorge commission interview to the public. Did anyone show up?
When the Clark County Council holds its Tuesday evening meeting, it’s not uncommon for them to approve appointments to various citizen advisory committees and boards. These appointments are one of the least controversial items of business and usually sail through on the consent agenda. But a recent appointment has attracted more public attention than usual. […]
2020 fundraising: The starting line
It’s very early days in the congressional race. We have 479 days to go until Nov. 3, 2020. But after Democrat Carolyn Long’s Monday announcement that she’s running for Congress again, it’s safe to say the race for Washington’s 3rd Congressional District is already starting to kick into high gear. Though the district’s been held […]
Art, hamburgers and the Turlays
A motion to reestablish an Arts, Culture & Heritage Commission in Vancouver to the tune of $400,000 a year met some resistance from the Turlays this week. Councilor Bill Turlay and his wife, Stephanie Turlay — who over the years has been outspoken at city council meetings about everything from dusty air leaving grime on […]
Glen Morgan lands another campaign finance complaint against local Dems
A local Democratic Party political committee will have to pay out several thousand dollars after a Thurston County-based conservative activist successfully filed a lawsuit against it alleging campaign finance violations. Sound familiar? It should if you’ve been keeping up with a subplot in state politics that centers around political adversaries battling each other through the […]
An exercise: How might voting districts affect the current city council?
A proposal to divvy up Vancouver into three voting districts fell flat at city council last week. Councilors declined to move forward with a recommendation that they put the question of establishing districts on the November ballot. A little background: The change would draw boundaries lines around three as-yet-to-be determined districts, and voters in each […]
Will Clark County really spend $1 million on artwork at a new jail?
As you might’ve heard, estimates for the cost of a new Clark County jail came in hot. Last year, the county assembled a blue-ribbon commission tasked with evaluating the county’s options for replacing or substantially upgrading its crowded and outdated jail. This spring, the commission determined that the new jail should have between 850-880 beds, […]
County Council takes another look at how it handles appointments
The Clark County home rule charter isn’t necessarily in conflict with federal law, but the county council would like to shine a little bit more light on how it appoints citizens to some commissions and boards. The county has multiple citizen-led committees, boards and commissions that advise the county on issues ranging from noxious weeds […]
Wylie gets more committee work
Being a member of the Legislature means lots of meetings and lots of work on committees. Although the Legislature wrapped up its work in April, one member of Clark County’s legislative delegation has signed on for more meetings and more committee work. According to a press release sent out earlier today, Rep. Sharon Wylie, D-Vancouver, […]
What’s a filing fee petition?
In order to run for Vancouver City Council, you need to jump through some hoops. Namely: filing a candidacy with the Clark County Election’s office, including paying a filing fee that totals 1 percent of the sought-after office’s annual salary. For a Vancouver city councilor next year, take home pay will be $24,540. Ergo, the […]
Have candidates for the special county council race raised any money yet?
It’s after Memorial Day and it’s just two months away from the August primary, so let’s check in on who’s giving money in the special election for Clark County Council. These off-year elections sometimes draw limited interest from voters. So far, donors have also shown limited interest in the race between Republican county Councilor Gary […]