The Columbia River Economic Development Council will not back down from supporting improvements to the Mill Plain interchange on Interstate 5, or any other transportation project.
The CREDC board voted unanimously Thursday not to change its policy on supporting local infrastructure projects after county Councilor David Madore threatened Wednesday not to name the group the county’s Associate Development Organization.
“The broad group supports partnerships,” CREDC President Mike Bomar said. “They support working together collaboratively.”
The Associate Development Organization designation would qualify the CREDC for about $160,000 — about 19 percent of its non-grant budget — in annual support from the state Commerce Department to support business services. CREDC has carried the designation for more than a decade.
Madore, however, said the Mill Plain interchange project is nothing more than a way to revive the failed Columbia River Crossing project, and said he cannot support naming the CREDC the county’s ADO as long as it supports the project.
The CRC would have replaced the I-5 Bridge, brought a light-rail line to Vancouver and improved I-5 interchanges on both sides of the Columbia River, including at Mill Plain Boulevard.
Madore also said it does not fall in the CREDC’s scope to support transportation projects at all, and asked that the organization remain neutral on what he calls “controversial” projects.
“You have my full support and encouragement to focus on the core mission of the CREDC and to please avoid advocating for the community rejected CRC project,” Madore told Bomar in an email Monday.
Madore was silent Thursday, neither returning a request for comment nor commenting on the issue on his typically vocal Facebook page.
Key to organizing
Bomar denied Madore’s claims that the CREDC has ever lobbied for one project over another, adding the organization supports all priority infrastructure projects in the region equally. The Clark County Transportation Alliance determines what projects are priorities for the county.
That priority list includes improvements to the 179th Street Interchange on I-5, which Madore has often called the most important economic development project in the county.
Matt Ransom, executive director for the Southwest Washington Regional Transportation Council, said it’s critical for economic development agencies to support infrastructure projects.
“Your economic development agency or coalition is key to helping organize thoughts on needed infrastructure,” he said.
Commerce Department spokeswoman Penny Thomas said this is a highly unusual situation. If the council decides not to name the CREDC its official economic development board, it would be the first time ever that a county has not designated an Associate Development Organization, Thomas said.
Furthermore, if the county does not name an ADO, the funding will stay in state coffers. The county has no claim to the money, and Bomar said there are no other eligible organizations in Clark County to become the Associate Development Organization.
Others weigh in
Madore’s accusations about the CREDC prompted the Southwest Washington delegation of state lawmakers to weigh in on the issue.
A letter, signed by all local senators and representatives except for Sen. Don Benton, R-Vancouver, was sent to the county council, urging it to appoint the CREDC as the county’s ADO. In a message to The Columbian late Thursday night, Benton said he hadn’t received a copy of the letter nor had the opportunity to sign it before it was issued to the county.
“We have every confidence that our CREDC is meeting and exceeding its mission to develop a strong, innovative business environment in collaboration with private and public sector partners,” the letter reads.
Vancouver Mayor Tim Leavitt, who supports the Mill Plain interchange project, called Madore’s claims that the CREDC is somehow attempting to revive the CRC “absolute paranoia by an elected official.”
“It is irresponsible for someone in an elected office to make the statements he is,” Leavitt said.
Next steps
The council will likely vote on whether or not to grant the CREDC its Associate Development Organization status soon, as the county has until June 15 to declare its preferred organization to the state.
The CREDC has at least one ally on the board in Councilor Jeanne Stewart, who also sits on the economic development agency’s board of directors.
Stewart praised the work of the CREDC, saying Bomar has “exceeded by 100 percent or more many of the things he set out to do.” She agreed that no other organization in Clark County could be eligible for the ADO funding.
“To decline this money is basically the county withdrawing from CREDC,” Stewart said. “It is the only connection we have to that organization.”
Stewart said she will advocate to approve CREDC’s ADO status, and hopes both Councilors Madore and Tom Mielke vote to approve the designation.
Stewart added that she doesn’t know what Madore is setting out to do by attempting to deny the CREDC its funding.
“What’s the motivation here?” Stewart said of her fellow councilor. “Honestly, I can’t figure it out. Is it just to derail, or is there really a purpose to it?”
This story was updated Friday morning to reflect new information from Sen. Don Benton, R-Vancouver.
