On Dec. 29, 2016, the day he was sworn into office as a Clark County councilor along with Eileen Quiring, John Blom did some math to figure out just what the council might get done over the next four years. With the council having one hearing a week, he figured that there would be about 50 per year, with 200 total hearings over a four-year term.
Six months later, Blom and Quiring have passed the halfway mark of the first year of their first terms on the county council. Both Republicans described the work of the county as performing many functions mandated by the state of Washington, which often has liberal policy goals. Both said they view their jobs as fulfilling these functions while also adhering to their more conservative viewpoints.
“I believe the government should have a limited role but has responsibilities assigned to it,” said Blom, 33, who describes himself as a fiscal conservative. “We have an obligation to find the right balance with quality and efficiency.”
“I am a conservative Republican,” Quiring, 69, said. “Look at the Republican platform and it reflects my beliefs.”
The five-member council is comprised entirely of Republicans, except Marc Boldt, an independent who left the GOP after being censured by it. While Blom and Quiring come from a different faction of the Republican Party than the other three councilors, they’ve largely avoided the infighting that’s marked the county’s past.
“It’s like a microcosm of the Republican Party over the last six years sitting on (the council),” said Rich Rogers, chair of the Clark County Democratic Party.
“It seems like they are getting along better than the previous council,” said David Gellatly, chair of the Clark County Republican Party.
In the past, land-use planning issues have proven to be a fault line for the council. While land use has remained at the forefront of the county’s business, the current council has largely avoided falling into disputes.
Last summer, when Clark County was updating its Comprehensive Growth Plan, a document required under state law, things became particularly acrimonious after then-Councilor David Madore accused planning staff of manipulating records.
After the council approved its comprehensive plan update, it was appealed to the Growth Management Hearings Board, a quasi-judicial state panel, by Seattle-based land-use group Futurewise and local environmental group Friends of Clark County on grounds it violated state law by facilitating sprawl and inadequately protecting farmland.
Quiring dissents
In March, the board issued a decision agreeing with some of the groups’ arguments and sent the plan back to the county. In April, the county council took its first step to come into compliance with the decision by passing an emergency ordinance that placed a moratorium on the filing or receipt of development applications or pre-applications for land within certain agricultural, forest or rural zoning designations.
Although other councilors expressed reservations about the moratorium, Quiring cast the only “no” vote.
“I don’t really believe it was an emergency and I continue to believe that,” she said. She explained that she thinks the moratorium was intended as a negotiating tactic with Futurewise.
In June, the council voted on a package of amendments to its comprehensive plan to come into further compliance with the Growth Management Hearings Board’s decision. Although Quiring voted for most of the package, she expressed misgivings about how it would restrict property owners’ rights, which the rest of the council agreed with. Again, she cast the only “no” vote against an ordinance that would make the moratorium permanent.
Boldt said that the council wasn’t “all the way there” on the moratorium and that in a way, he appreciated her “no” vote.
“She’s held her conservative views but has respected the process,” he said.
Quiring, whose district encompasses large swaths of rural Clark County, has been praised by Clark County Citizens United, a property rights group. Carol Levanen, the group’s executive secretary, wrote in an email that Quiring “continues to support her constituents. We need more like her.”
“My philosophy is that the nation was founded on property rights,” Quiring said. “It’s a precious commodity and shouldn’t be arbitrarily decided by other people.”
Quiring called the state’s Growth Management Act, which governs comprehensive plans, a “pretty open framework.” She said she doesn’t want to pave open spaces or cater to developers. Instead, she wants more flexibility in the plan. Specifically, she said she’d like to see rural families be able to subdivide their property and pass it along to new generations.
But she said the original plan, which was approved in 1994, would require revisions and doing so would be difficult.
“We have to live with the law,” she said.
Chris Prothero, an activist who runs a Facebook page on Clark County politics, said that while Quiring appears to be politically aligned with Madore, she hasn’t been confrontational or antagonistic.
“She seems to be playing nice in the sandbox with others,” he said.
Even Ed Barnes, a retired labor leader and former county commissioner, praised Quiring for apologizing after she asked for the name of a county employee who authored a proclamation that she objected.
According to her calendar, obtained through a public records request, Quiring had a note on her calendar to wear “comfortable shoes” for a tour of the county jail in March. In May, she visited the controversial Yacolt mining quarry before having lunch at WareHouse ’23 with state Rep. Liz Pike, R-Camas, who might be considering a bid for county chair.
Blom’s schedule
Councilor Julie Olson said Blom and Quiring (both real estate agents) have similar styles of being direct and doing their homework.
“I think Eileen is more to the right, which is good,” Boldt said. “John is more moderate.”
Blom’s district encompasses parts of east Vancouver. He won his seat in November over Democrat Tanisha Harris with 22,066 votes to her 21,056. Before being elected, he served on the board of Columbia River Mental Health.
According to his calendar, obtained through a public records request, since taking office Blom attended galas for Columbia River Mental Health and the Evergreen School District Foundation. He also traveled to Olympia to lobby legislators on a bill to replace the Interstate 5 Bridge. At the National Association of Counties annual convention in Washington, D.C., Blom attended sessions on the opioid epidemic and reinvesting dollars for mental health in jails.
When it comes to land use, Blom said he supports the idea of smart growth, which he said means putting housing and services near jobs and creating density where it makes sense.
“We can’t let everyone have 1-acre parcels,” he said. “That’s how you end up with sprawl.”
But he said too often “smart growth” means no growth and he would like to see reform of the GMA, which he called a “sacred cow.” He adds that the county needs to pick winnable battles and, to an extent, its “hands are tied” when it comes to land use.
Gellatly, chair of the county GOP, praised the Republican members of the council. He said that although there are some hard feelings in the party after Blom beat Madore for his seat in the August 2016 primary, he said that they’ll subside.
But he said that it’s still early in the councilors’ terms.
“We’ll be looking to the longer term to see how conservative they are,” he said.
