A Republican challenger to Clark County Clerk Sherry Parker said Wednesday that he wants to run to abolish the office.
Scott Weber, 38, said the position should be appointed, not elected.
The county clerk oversees a staff of 47 people and has a 2009-10 budget of $5.9 million. The office is responsible for the records of all Superior Court matters, including felony criminal cases and certain civil lawsuits, as well as divorce, juvenile and probate cases. The clerk currently earns $92,364 annually.
To change the position from elected to appointed, the county charter would have to be changed. Clark County commissioners have already pledged to start that process next year. First, between 15 to 25 (the number has not been set) “freeholders” would be elected. Then they would draft a charter and it would have to be approved by a majority of voters. Six of Washington’s 39 counties are so-called “home-rule” counties, which mean they have a charter unique to the basic state template other counties use.
Every currently elected position except the prosecuting attorney and the judges could be appointed with a change to the county charter, said Chief Deputy Prosecutor Curt Wyrick.
Weber said Wednesday that, for now, he’s focused on the clerk’s office. He said he would push for the adoption of a home-rule charter.
Clark County voters have turned down proposed charters three times, most recently in 2002.
A manufacturing engineering technician at Columbia Machine, Weber said he takes issue with how Parker, a longtime employee of the clerk’s office, was elected in 2006 after Clerk Jo Anne McBride retired. Parker’s husband, Philip Parker, belongs to Local 48 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the union was a major contributor to Parker’s campaign.
Why does a labor union get involved with a campaign for county clerk, Weber asked.
Weber said having department heads appointed would result in the most qualified people in the positions.
If elected, and if voters ultimately approved a county charter that made the clerk into an appointed position, Weber said he would still be interested in having the job.
“My goal would be to learn the job,” he said. He said he would ask the employees about ways to streamline procedures.
“I do believe the best ideas come from the people who are doing the jobs every day,” Weber said.
Weber said he does not have any management experience.
The past president of the Northwest Corvette Association, Weber lives in east Vancouver with his wife, Amy, and their four children, ages 15 to seven months.
Parker, 63, announced in April that she will seek another term. Since taking office, Parker has helped streamline procedures for processing paperwork to a computer imaging system and digitizing old court files from microfilm.
