The Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce named former Camas Mayor Nan Henriksen “Statesman of the Year” for her work in shepherding a bipartisan board of freeholders through the process of drafting a proposed county charter.
She was honored Tuesday at the chamber’s third annual Business and Leadership Awards at the Hilton Vancouver Washington.
“I felt so honored and so proud, not only for myself but also the freeholder board,” Henriksen said. “It speaks extremely well for the process we went through as a group.”
Henriksen was the chairwoman of the freeholders, the 15-member board that wrote a proposed new charter. If it’s approved by voters in November, it will change elements of the Board of Clark County Commissioners.
A process that could have been “chaos” actually went smoothly, Henriksen said, something she attributes to the other members of the board who came from different political stripes.
“The board did an excellent job of (listening to each other),” Henriksen said. “I felt very, very proud of the board, for not just living up to my expectations … but they went beyond that and developed a real sense of camaraderie.”
Ensuring that a potentially divisive process remained civil and respectful was a top priority, she said.
In celebrating the work she did, the chamber of commerce said Henriksen “led a respectful, fair, open-minded and productive process and was successful in finding consensus among the freeholders for the current charter proposal.”
Henriksen, 72, has been active in the community for 40 years, serving as mayor of Camas between 1983 and 1992. She later sat on the Western Washington Growth Management Hearings Board, a post she held until 2004.
Other organizations and people received awards. They included New Seasons Market, for community builder for large businesses; Mill Creek Pub, for community builder for small businesses; Fringe Digital Marketing Agency, for startup to watch; and Vancouver Public Schools’ Chief of Staff Tom Hagley Jr., for community champion.
