The campaign for 2014 has begun.
Almost 17 months before voters cast their ballots in the 2014 November election, which will decide several county races, a candidate has declared he’ll begin running to be Clark County Sheriff.
Chuck Atkins, a 35-year veteran of the Clark County Sheriff’s Office and one year into retirement, says he’s ready to return to the job.
“I call it life two,” Atkins said. “I’m ready for it, and especially since it’s in a field that I love.
“The reason I retired and took that year off was to ask myself what I wanted to do. And I realized, throughout my career, I’m happiest when I do what I enjoy.”
And what Atkins says he enjoys is the natural feel of community police work in the county where he grew up and raised a family of his own.
Atkins, 58, moved to town as a teenager in 1969, graduating from Columbia River High School in 1972.
He recently celebrated a 40th anniversary with his wife, Lorna, and has two grown children and seven grandchildren.
Began on patrol
Atkins began his career in police work with the Clark County Sheriff’s Office in 1977.
In his later years with the department, Atkins specialized in special operations, but he’s quick to point out that he started off working patrol and as a dog handler.
“It was always a natural thing for me,” Atkins said.
“This is still the community I live in, and have invested so much time in. And when there’s a need,
and a skills fit,” he said, “that’s when change happens. I believe I am that change.”
Question of Lucas
Atkins’ declaration that he’ll seek the office raises the question of what incumbent Sheriff Garry Lucas will do.
Lucas, who turns 70 this year, has kept quiet on whether he will retire or seek another term in the seat he first won in 1990.
“I have a whole year to make up my mind about that,” Lucas said last week.
Two Republicans
Both Atkins and Lucas are Republicans, but that is mostly a formality in a position that, while partisan, is largely apolitical. Further, Washington’s top-two primary system permits general elections between foes of similar politics.
Atkins said he has a high respect for Lucas, and that if the incumbent runs, he believes it will be a “clean campaign.”
Still, Atkins believes he is the best man for the job.
“I think I am a fresh new look for a transitional county,” Atkins said.
As the county grows, Atkins said, he believes study must be done on how the county’s agencies and those in surrounding counties work together. Specifically, he hopes to begin a fresh discussion on how mental illness and substance abuse are handled in the county.
But on several issues, he says, he’s still developing a concrete platform. Hence the reason he has announced so early. His goal now, he says, is to engage with members of the community to see what their priorities are.
“I’m energized right now,” Atkins said. “I want to get out there and let everyone know I’m ready.”
Erik Hidle: 360-735-4547; http://twitter.com/col_clarkgov; erik.hidle@columbian.com
