Vancouver resident Joe Zimmerman and Camas resident Matt Little are running to represent District 4 on the Clark County Council.
Zimmerman owns and runs a family farm. Little is a public policy expert. While they may seem to have little in common, both are committed to preserving Clark County’s rural landscape.
Only voters living in District 4, which encompasses a large section of eastern Clark County from the border of Skamania to just west of Camas and north toward Battle Ground, will cast votes in the race. Ballots are due Nov. 5.
Little, 50, has spent much of his career working to protect and preserve green spaces. He currently works as a lobbyist for Ducks Unlimited and is the executive director for the World Salmon Council. He previously worked for Cascade Forest Conservancy, National Wildlife Federation and three federal agencies: Department of State, Environmental Protection Agency and National Park Service.
Little said he’s running for office because he wants to help people “being squeezed out by the cost of everything.” He said families and businesses are struggling with rising costs, much of it related to the increasing costs of housing.
“My whole life I’ve been working on issues regarding natural resources and policy,” Little said. “I have a lot of skills that I can bring to this position.”
Zimmerman, 49, is a Clark County native and is perhaps best known as the co-owner and operator of Bi-Zi Farms on Northeast 119th Street in Vancouver. The fifth-generation farmer is a proud graduate of Prairie High School and Washington State University Vancouver. He is a former U.S. Marine.
Zimmerman said his family’s long history in Clark County is why he’s running for the council seat.
“It’s a personal desire to see my county be led well,” Zimmerman said. “I am the least political politician you’ll ever meet.”
Neither candidate has served in an elected office previously, although Little ran for the same council seat in 2020. According to the Public Disclosure Commission, Zimmerman has received $11,296 in campaign contributions and Little has $29,930.
Housing
From buying a home to renting a townhouse, the cost of housing seems to be the one subject everyone is talking about. That includes Little and Zimmerman.
To resolve the ongoing housing crisis, including lack of affordable housing and the growing numbers of homeless individuals, Zimmerman said it comes down to available inventory.
“The only true answer that I can see, that is a real and usable answer, is volume. I’ve never been a fan of development across the county … but we seriously need to build a lot more houses,” he said.
Zimmerman said the lack of housing will only get worse unless steps are taken now, especially as the county’s population is expected to grow by nearly 200,000 people by 2045.
“We are going to have to build a whole lot more houses, apartments, multi-family houses,” Zimmerman said.
Little said he agrees there is a supply-and-demand imbalance, and that housing prices will likely come down once there is a greater supply. However, he said there are other things driving up housing costs.
“There are a lot of taxes and fees that go into construction of new homes. That adds to the cost for everybody, but especially the homeowner. I will be working more aggressively to grow in the more appropriate areas, and I have some ideas as to how to balance that growth,” Little said.
For Little, housing solutions must include better zoning and more funding. He said one idea is to use development credit to drive growth in urban city centers that could be balanced against less growth in rural areas.
“There’s going to be a lot of decisions that we have to make on zoning and making sure there are affordable units and a variety of different types of units,” he said. “By law, we have to accommodate growth and we have to make it affordable.”
Growth plan
When the new county councilors take office in January, the county will be in the final year of updating its 20-year growth plan, the county’s guide for managing lands, resources and development required by the state Growth Management Act. While some of the 15 key elements are finished, like population and housing forecasts, there is still a lot of work to be done, most notably, the new climate element added during the last legislative session.
Little and Zimmerman said they’re ready to get to work.
“I’ll say this, there’s going to be a lot of late nights. It’s going to be an awful lot of reading and talks with county employees,” Zimmerman said. “I already have a good working relationship with many of those people.”
Little said he is very familiar with the Growth Management Act, noting his current and prior policy work often involves the state bill.
“How we manage for growth in an appropriate way that also protects our rural areas, our rural charm, our working farms, but also grows in a way that our communities feel more like communities, where people have more affordable homes that are closer to their jobs and services, that’s very important and it all goes into this plan,” Little said.
As a self-described policy nerd, Little said he looks forward to diving into details that make up the 300-plus page plan.
“I also think there will be many late nights studying what has been happening so far because it’s a big decision on how we grow appropriately and how we grow fast enough so there are enough affordable homes for everyone and a diversity of homes,” he said. “It’s the most important thing we do besides manage the budget.”
