Mayors declare love in advance of Valentine’s

No chocolates, cards, or bottles of wine were exchanged between Camas Mayor Scott Higgins and Washougal Mayor Sean Guard when they met with local reporters Thursday.

Yet, I exited Washougal’s council chambers reminded of Valentine’s Day.

Higgins and Guard displayed their fondness for one another with effusive praise about the cities’ ongoing partnership efforts and each other’s mayoral vision. They occasionally traded gentle barbs about annexation or high school sports, but the mood was always jovial.

Who says mayors, or cities for that matter, need to buy each other material goods for Valentine’s Day? Cooperation, not consumerism, is the new east Clark County way.

Opportunities for Camas and Washougal to work together are vast, Guard said, noting they extend past the cities’ fire departments or municipal court.

“We’re never going to become one city, but we will stay one community,” Guard said.

The fire department merger, for instance, is a 50-50 proposition, Higgins said. Though the two cities’ relationship is prospering, he cautioned against falling into the “old mindset.”

“I can assure you we do not want to annex Washougal,” Higgins joked.

“Get down off your high horse,” Guard responded, before bursting into laughter.