County eyes mid-May for commissioner appointment

The Clark County Board of Commissioners could name a replacement to the vacant District 3 seat by mid-May.

The three candidates seeking appointment to the open position, left vacant when Democrat Steve Stuart stepped down from it last month, could be interviewed during the week of May 12-16, said Axel Swanson, the county’s senior policy analyst. Commissioners Tom Mielke and David Madore, both Republicans, will likely decide who’s appointed the same day as the interviews.

The three candidates are Ed Barnes, a retired labor leader, Kelly Love Parker, the executive director of the Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce, and Craig Pridemore, a former county commissioner and state legislator.

The Clark County Democrats have said they’d like to see Pridemore appointed to the seat. He is also the only candidate who said he’d also run an election campaign. The District 3 seat expires at the end of the year.

If commissioners choose to conduct the interviews between May 12 and 16, they’ll take place during the same week as the county’s candidate filing deadline. Pridemore has already filed with the state’s Public Disclosure Commission.

Ultimately, when the interviews take place will depend on scheduling, Swanson said. So far, one day has been ruled out: May 14. That’s the same day of the commissioners’ weekly board time meeting.