‘Vancouver envy’ at the Clark County Democratic Convention?

Former state Senate candidate Ty Stober turned the subject of one of his pet peeves into a Clark County Democratic Convention resolution on Saturday.

He proposed the party adopt a resolution to add Vancouver to more highway mileage signs – AKA the signs placed along state highways that tell drivers how many miles away they are from major destinations.

Highway signs throughout the state often tell drivers how close they are to Portland, but not many mention Vancouver – unless they’re referencing the other Vancouver in British Columbia. Vancouver is one of the state’s largest cities, and adding its name on more highway signs would help it gain recognition and tourism, according to the resolution.

“It’s long been an irritation of mine” because many of the state’s mileage signs promote tourism outside of the Washington, Stober explained to the convention crowd.

Stober’s resolution also recommended changing the state’s mileage signs that mention Canada’s Vancouver to simply show the distance to “Canada” instead of “Vancouver.”

Once read out loud by County Commissioner Steve Stuart, Stober’s resolution elicited some laughter from the group — and some amendment suggestions.

Maybe instead of “Canada,” the mileage signs could say “British Columbia,” one woman said.

Canada’s Vancouver is a major city in the region, and it’s owed its fair share of respect and esteem, another convention participant noted. He also said the proposal to remove the other Vancouver from state highway signs would make it look like Washingtonians have “Vancouver envy.”

Although Stober argued that his idea to remove Canada’s Vancouver from state mileage signs would prevent confusion between the two Vancouvers, that portion of his resolution was deleted.

The rest of the resolution passed, meaning its on its way to the Democrats’ state convention.

Stober briefly campaigned for the 49th District state Senate seat being vacated by Vancouver Democrat Craig Pridemore, who is running for state auditor. Stober dropped out of the race to focus his efforts on the fight to allow same-sex marriage in Washington.

Stevie Mathieu: 360-735-4523 or stevie.mathieu@columbian.com or www.facebook.com/reportermathieu or www.twitter.com/col_politics