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The board of Clark County commissioners for 2005: Steve Stuart, Betty Sue Morris
and Marc Boldt
The Clark County board of commissioners has shifted toward the center of
the political spectrum for 2005, with the addition of a Republican,
Marc Boldt, for the first time since
Mel Gordon, was unseated by
Craig Pridemore six years ago.
Democrat Betty Sue Morris, who was
reelected in November, begins her fourth term on the board. Morris served in the
state legislature, as did Boldt before he ran for the commissioner's office from
district 2, representing east Clark County, succeeding Democrat
Judie Stanton, who retired from public
life after two terms as county commissioner and after having served as a
Vancouver School District board member and a commissioner of Fire District 5.
Joining the two elected officials for the 2005 is Democrat
Steve Stuart, who was appointed by Morris
and Stanton to succeed Pridemore, who
resigned after having beaten the 49th District Republican state senator
Don Carlson in an extremely close general
election contest.
The commissioner's job is the first public office held by
Stuart, who has been active in environmental projects, including having been
with 1000 Friends of Washington, executive director of Friends of Clark County,
and founder and director of a wetlands conservancy organization, Urban Reserve.
He is a graduate of the University of Oregon Law School.
Stuart's appointment is for one year only. He says he
will run for the office this fall and, if he wins, will run again in 2006 for a
full four-year term.
Morris today was reelected chair of the board and Boldt
was elected vice chair.
Jon Clemens to headline
Columbian’s
Economic Forecast Friday, Jan. 21
Jon Clemens,
“among America’s leading technology researchers,” according to the co-sponsoring
Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce, is the keynote speaker at the 19th annual
Columbian Economic Forecast at 7 a.m.
Friday, Jan. 21, in the Red Lion Hotel at the Quay. The event is also
co-sponsored by the Columbia River Economic Development Council.
Clemens, says the chamber, “has spent more than 30 years
working in high-tech research, first for RCA and Sarnoff Corp., and most
recently as president of Sharp Laboratories of America in Camas. He retired from
that position last fall to lead Sharp Technology Ventures, a new
business-development unit of Sharp Labs. Clemens’ primary work has been in
consumer electronics, particularly multimedia. A physicist-electrical engineer
by training, Clemens has several degrees, including a doctorate from
Massachusetts Institute of Technology.”
Panelists are Michael
Tompkins, Georgia-Pacific Corp., Joe
Kortum, Southwest Washington Medical Center,
Bob Bernardi, Sharp Microelectronics of
Americas, Deborah Oester, Bank of Clark
County, Eric Fuller, Eric Fuller &
Associates, Dick Riley, Riley & Marks,
Inc., John Crawford, Hi-School Pharmacy,
Bart Phillips, Columbia River Economic
Development Council, Scott Bailey, state
Department of Employment Security, Terry Morlan,
Northwest Power Planning Council, and Dean
Lookingbill, Southwest Washington Regional Transportation Council.
Moderators are Columbian business
editor, Julie Anderson, and business
reporters Gretchen Fehrenbacher and
Jonathan Nelson.
To register for the $30 breakfast, call
694-2588 by January 19.
Clark Public Utilities’ 27,500 water customers can expect
a slight increase in water rates, the first in three years, after commissioners
decide how to apportion new rates at a final public hearing at 9 a.m. Tuesday,
Jan. 11.
Commissioners today discussed how a variety of ways of
assigning costs to customers would eliminate a $600,000 annual shortfall, which
this year was covered by a cushion the water system had built up.
Residential customers currently pay $1.15 per 100 cubic
feet of water, plus a basic monthly charge of $4.20. Commissioners discussed an
increase of the 100-cubic-foot charge to $1.20 and an increase in the basic
charge to $6.
Unresolved today was whether and how to increase the fee
charged for new connections to the water system. The current fee is just under
$1,200. It could increase to as much as $1,800.
The utility’s residential water rates, currently
averaging $18.50 a month, are a bargain compared to cities in Clark County,
which range from an average of $37.74 in Ridgefield to $20.76 in Vancouver.
New state liquor store to open in Four
Seasons Place, 2612 NE 114th Avenue
The Washington State Liquor Control Board has completed a
lease for 5,813 square feet in four Seasons Place, 2612 NE 114th Avenue, for a
new state liquor store, reports co-broker on the deal,
Byron Roselli, Eric Fuller & Associates.
The store is expected to open in early March.
News briefs
The Southwest Washington Regional Transportation Council
meets at 4 p.m. today in the Public Service Center, 1300 Franklin Street.
g Clark County commissioners meet in
informal session at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 5.
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MIRIAM GREEN 
"Working to help you!"
