Two more Battle Ground residents have thrown their names into consideration for city councilor positions in the upcoming November election.
Current Councilor Cherish DesRochers announced she will seek re-election for Position 6, and former councilor Adrian Cortes announced he will run for Position 4.
DesRochers originally was appointed to a council on a pro tem basis in July to fill in for former Councilor Bill Ganley, who was on extended leave. Ganley died in November after a yearslong battle with cancer, and DesRochers was appointed to Position No. 6 in December.
“I want to protect and enhance that small town feel that we all love,” she said in her announcement for re-election. “I’m passionate about keeping this community a special place to live and raise our families. My priorities will continue to be safe neighborhoods, keeping Battle Ground affordable and planning for growth.”
DesRochers is the founder and president of Food with Friends, a local nonprofit that started last year to serve the homeless by providing food and other supplies, as well as advocacy.
Before joining the council, she was a member of the Battle Ground Planning Commission and founding board member of the Battle Ground Education Foundation.
Cortes was a councilor from 2012-2015 and chair of the planning commission from 2008-2012. He works as an educator in the special education department in the Camas School District. In his announcement, Cortes highlighted three issues he will focus on: growth should pay for itself, meaning no new taxes to pay for new development, improve transportation and east-west connectivity throughout the city and fully funded public safety.
“I want to see our city have continued success with responsible budgetary policies, focus on public safety, continuing to focus on fixing and maintaining our existing roads and applying common sense thinking to continue to attract businesses to our community,” he said in his announcement.
In an email, Cortes wrote he didn’t run for re-election in 2015 due to “several professional growth opportunities, including being accepted to a doctorate program.” He decided to run for office again thanks to Ganley, who, Cortes wrote, he visited about a half dozen times starting last summer once Ganley’s health started to deteriorate.
“We talked about politics (and) challenges our community faced. He encouraged me as a fellow educator, and discussed the value of younger people to be engaged in their community,” Cortes wrote. “After every meeting, he asked if I would consider returning to council. I always told him I was very humbled and flattered by his requests.”
During their last meeting, which Cortes didn’t know at the time would be their last, Ganley asked him again to seriously consider running. After some thought, and discussion with his family, Cortes decided to run again.
DesRochers and Cortes join Brian Munson and Mike Dalesandro, who announced they will seek re-election for positions No. 1 and No. 5, respectively, in the upcoming election.
Adam Littman: 360-735-4518; adam.littman@columbian.com; twitter.com/a_littman
