NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | July 17, 2015 | PAGE 3
SW Washington Labor Council makes endorsements for August primary
Five candidates square off for
chair of Clark County Board
of Councilors
VANCOUVER, Wash.— The
Southwest Washington Central
Labor Council issued its en-
dorsements for the Aug. 4 pri-
mary. Washington is a “Top 2”
state, which means the two can-
didates with the most votes, no
matter what political party they
belong to, will advance to the
November general election.
The labor council supports
Mike Dalesandro for chair of
the Clark County Board of
Councilors. Dalesandro is a
Democrat running against four
Republicans, including incum-
bent chair David Madore and
two sitting councilors—Tom
Mielke and Jeanne Stewart. The
other candidate is Marc Boldt, a
former county commissioner
who was defeated by Madore in
2012.
Last year Clark County vot-
ers passed a home rule charter,
which reorganized county gov-
ernment, turned commissioners
into councilors, and expanded
the County Council from three
to five representatives. The first
step into full implementation of
the charter occurs in this elec-
tion cycle. The new structure
created four districts in Clark
County where voters in each
district will elect their own rep-
resentative to the council, plus a
new “chair” position that is
elected county-wide.
Madore’s and Mielke’s terms
don’t expire until 2016, and
Stewart’s ends in 2019, so all
three will retain their council
seats if they lose the chair cam-
paign.
Multi-millionaire Madore is a
rookie politician who spent
about $314,000 of his own
money to unseat Boldt, the in-
cumbent. Since taking office, he
has targeted organized labor.
Earlier this year Madore pro-
posed a right-to-work ordi-
nance. The backlash from the
community was fierce, and the
proposal was dropped.
Dalesandro, 34, is a Battle
Ground city councilor. He
works as a supply chain analyst
at Boise Paper in Vancouver.
Five candidates have filed for
the Clark County Council,
District 2, seat. The district, cre-
ated under the new charter,
stretches from Felida through
Ridgefield and La Center to the
northwest county border.
The Southwest Washington
Central Labor Council has en-
dorsed Ridgefield resident
Chuck Green for the post.
Green is the project manager
for C-Tran’s Bus Rapid Transit
Project, and was Clark County’s
transportation program manager
from 1992 to 1998. He is a strong
proponent of replacing the Inter-
state 5 bridge, calling it “by far
our region’s highest priority.”
One of his opponents is Mary
Benton, the wife of controversial
state Sen. Don Benton (R-Van-
couver)—a Clark County em-
ployee.
Madore and Mielke hired
Don Benton as the county’s di-
rector of environmental services
in a backroom deal that eventu-
ally cost the county $250,000 to
avoid a lawsuit. The lawsuit al-
leged Clark County violated
state and federal civil rights laws
and its own hiring practices
when the two commissioners
hired Benton, who has no expe-
rience in environmental matters.
At Vancouver City Council,
the labor federation endorsed
the re-election of Bart Hansen
to Position 4, and the election of
Ty Stober for Position 5, and
George Francisco for Position
6.
Hansen and Francisco have
only one opponent, so they will
automatically advance to the
general election in November.
Hansen was appointed in Janu-
ary 2010 to fill the vacant posi-
tion created by the election of
Tim Leavitt to mayor. He was
elected to the post outright in
November 2010, and re-elected
in November 2011. Hansen is
the office services manager at
Clark Public Utilities. Fran-
cisco, 74, is an insurance com-
pany owner trying to unseat in-
cumbent Bill Turlay. Francisco
served on the Vancouver City
Charter Review Commission in
2014, but otherwise has never
run for elective office.
[The 2014 Charter Review
Committee recommended five
changes for the charter that the
City Council voted to place on
the ballot for the Nov. 3, 2015
General Election.]
Stober is among three candi-
dates running for an open seat in
Position 5. A small business
owner in the clean energy sec-
tor, Stober is a longtime neigh-
borhood and community activist
who served on the 2014 City
Charter Review Commission.
Stober also has endorsements
from IBEW Local 48, AF-
SCME Local 307, Laborers Lo-
cal 335, and United Food and
Commercial Workers Local
555.
In Battle Ground, the Labor
Council is backing Candy Bon-
neville in her bid to unseat in-
cumbent City Councilor Phil
Johnson in Position No. 7. Since
only two candidates are in the
race, both automatically ad-
vance to the general election.
Bonneville is active in the Clark
County Democratic Party.