County council election coverage
o Fee waivers
County fee-waiver program a contentious issue for council chair candidates
District 2 candidates, backers and foes, call for changes to fee-waiver program
o Transportation
County chair candidates weigh in on transportation issues
Councilor candidates in District 2 discuss transportation priorities
County council election coverage
o Fee waivers
County fee-waiver program a contentious issue for council chair candidates
District 2 candidates, backers and foes, call for changes to fee-waiver program
o Transportation
County chair candidates weigh in on transportation issues
Councilor candidates in District 2 discuss transportation priorities
o Growth management
Candidates for county chair position divided on growth
Growth management plan of particular importance to District 2 as area grows
o Home-rule charter
Whoever takes the top seat at the Clark County council will face a new challenge.
Last November, voters approved a home-rule charter, boosting Clark County’s three-person board to a five-person board with an elected chair.
According to the charter, the chair will preside over council meetings; be the county’s spokesperson to local, state and federal agencies; meet and greet important visitors; supervise constituent response processes for the council and serve as the county’s lead representative at public events.
Here’s what the candidates have to say about Clark County’s new form of government:
• Tom Mielke, Republican: Mielke has been vocally opposed to the home-rule charter since the beginning, saying it has “intentionally locked councilors.”
“I don’t care if it causes a collapse,” he said. “We’ll follow it until someone changes it.”
Mielke also said it was a reactionary measure after the “frenzy” over the hiring of Sen. Don Benton, R-Vancouver, to lead the Department of Environmental Services. Mielke and Madore directed then County Administrator Bill Barron to hire Benton in 2013, bypassing county hiring practices in an act critics have called “political cronyism.”
• Jeanne Stewart, Republican: Stewart said she was opposed to the home-rule charter, saying it was inappropriate to change Clark County’s government structure simply because people didn’t like the leadership.
However, “it is the law and it’s what the people chose.” “They deserve to have it properly implemented,” she said. “Let’s not let Clark County idle.”
• David Madore, Republican: Madore declined to respond to requests for an interview, but he is firmly in opposition to the charter, saying it cut the representative power of each individual councilor.
“Four of five councilors were stripped of the right to speak on behalf of their office,” Madore said on his website. “Rather than equally empowering each councilor, exclusive power was concentrated into the hands of one chairman who alone is authorized to speak for the council, set the agenda, and control the meetings.”
• Marc Boldt, no party preference: Boldt, a former freeholder who helped develop the charter, said smooth implementation of the new form of government will be one of his top priorities. As chair — and spokesperson for the board — Boldt said he would implement rules of order for county meetings.
Those rules would cover council communications with county employees, as well as the public.
Following the announcement of his candidacy, Boldt said he wants to “really make sure that we get our lines of communication and authority right.”
• Mike Dalesandro, Democrat: Dalesandro supports the charter form of government, and said he has the advantage of being a fresh face on the council. Three of his opponents are current councilors — who opposed the charter — while Boldt is a former commissioner.
“It’s going to be a challenge for those individuals to divorce themselves from the past,” Dalesandro said. “I’m not going to walk in that job to rule the roost.”
