2022: A year in review of North Clark County news

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As another year draws to a close, we look back on the news in North Clark County over the course of 2022.  

Events like the omicron COVID-19 surge, forest fires and an election featuring a Republican defeat in Congress marked some of what affected the region.

The Reflector covered noteworthy events through a year marked with a return from COVID-19 restrictions and new challenges in a world still marked by the pandemic. 

January: Omicron sets COVID-19 activity records

The year began with the omicron variant of COVID-19 sweeping across Washington state. On Jan. 27, Clark County’s rate of recent cases rose to an all-time high of 2,549.1 cases per 100,000 population in a 14-day period.

The spike led to a precipitous decline afterward, and would continue to drop before it hit the lowest case rate of the year on April 7. Case rates plateaued with some slight changes in the summer, before decreasing in the fall.

Over the course of 2022, Clark County saw 56,693 cases and 369 deaths reported from Jan. 6 to Dec. 15.

January: Off-duty Vancouver officer fatally shot by sheriff’s deputy at home

At the end of January, off-duty Vancouver police officer Donald Sahota was shot at his Battle Ground home by a deputy of the Clark County Sheriff’s Office who mistook him for a suspect in a manhunt following a robbery.

On Jan. 29, Sahota was shot by sheriff’s deputy Jonathan Feller. Feller was responding to a 911 call at the residence after Sahota and Julio Segura, an armed robbery suspect, got into a fight in the residence’s driveway.

Segura had fled the scene of a robbery at a gas station on state Route 503 earlier that night. After fleeing the scene and crashing near Battle Ground, Segura arrived at the Sahota residence. 

Information from the shooting investigation released in April showed Feller was the first to arrive at Sahota’s residence. When he arrived he knew there had been a fight and a gun had been dropped. Feller believed Sahota was the suspect, and believed Sahota, who was heading back into the house, was going to attack the residents. He then shot Sahota.

Segura faced charges of first-degree attempted murder in Sahota’s death alongside robbery, burglary and assault charges. On Feb. 8, Sahota was remembered during a memorial service at ilani.

February: Mandate petition defeated, Inslee announces mask mandate repeal

On Feb. 1, the Clark County Council voted 4-1 to oppose an ordinance brought forward by more than 8,000 county signatories focused on preventing medically-related mandates. The ordinance would have prohibited “all mandates within Clark County that discriminate against a person’s health and/or health information privacy.”

Councilors rejected the ordinance due to a lack of legal authority the county had, which could have jeopardized millions in funding if the ordinance was approved.

Later that month, Gov. Jay Inslee announced the mask mandate for indoors would be lifted the following month. On Feb. 17, Inslee said disease modeling showed a decline after the omicron surge. He came back two weeks later to shorten the time to drop the mandate to March 12.

January to May: County redistricting, appointment process stalls

The effort to use the new U.S. Census data to redraw the boundaries of the Clark County Council districts took months longer than initially planned. The decision came after a replacement for a retiring councilor was appointed by the governor.

After a bipartisan committee tasked with redistricting deadlocked in December, the decision on a new map went before the county council. The council sent it back to the committee in January, who once again could not secure enough votes the following month.

Former councilor Eileen Quiring O’Brien resigned from her District 5 position effective March 1. Later that month, the remaining four councilors could not approve one of three candidates for appointment, placing the decision in front of Inslee.

Inslee selected Richard Rylander to serve in the position. He was sworn in on May 3.

In the meantime, the remaining councilors worked to approve a redistricting map. The day after Rylander was sworn in, the majority of the council approved a map to move forward that wasn’t previously under consideration until that point.

February, April: Ridgefield bond defeated twice

A $62.6 million construction bond for the Ridgefield School District was voted down by voters twice this year, failing to get a supermajority of more than 60% of voter approval in the February and April elections. 

In February, the bond garnered about 57.5% approval, missing the threshold by 206 votes. In April, the contest was closer as 59.2% ballots were in favor of the measure and only 73 votes below a supermajority.

The bond would have funded the construction of a new elementary school on district-owned land on the east side of the district and an expansion at Ridgefield High School.

April, May: ilani celebrates five years, Cowlitz Tribe chairman dies

The Cowlitz Indian Tribe celebrated five years of ilani this year, though a month later they mourned the loss of tribal chairman David Barnett.

On April 25, the tribe celebrated ilani’s five-year anniversary. The celebration in front of the casino took place under the shadow of the 300-room luxury hotel that is under construction. The building towers over the reservation and is the latest large expansion on the property.

A month later, the tribe announced its leader, Barnett, died.

Barnett died on May 28 of an apparent heart attack at his home in Shoreline. He “led with passion, deep generosity and an unending commitment to the Cowlitz Tribe,” according to the tribe’s announcement.

Barnett was affiliated with the tribe for his entire life. He was the son of former chair John Barnett, who led the tribe to federal acknowledgement in 2002.

Barnett was succeeded by Patty Kinswa-Gaiser, who is now the chair of the tribe’s general council.

July: Battle Ground council rejects annexation of property ‘islands’

Proposals to annex 171 acres of land surrounded by Battle Ground city limits were defeated over the course of the year, with a final rejection of the last property under consideration taking place in July.



On July 5, the Battle Ground City Council voted to reject bringing in about 118 acres to the northeast and southwest of the city. Due to the city abutting the properties in question, the city could have annexed the land, though pushback from residents convinced the council to reconsider.

In May, the city considered the annexation of more property, which included “islands” of property to the south of the city that was completely surrounded by city limits. Though the council initially took those off the table after they experienced similar pushback, they ultimately did not pursue annexation of any of the property under consideration.

July, August: Sales tax increases approved in Battle Ground, Woodland and countywide

Two North Clark County cities passed sales tax measures in July intended to fund road maintenance, while the county itself saw voters approve its own measure to support public safety the following month.

On July 18, both the Woodland and Battle Ground city councils approved .1% sales tax increases within their respective city limits. 

The tax collected will fund each city’s respective transportation benefit districts. This year, Washington cities were allowed to impose a .1% tax increase as a “councilmanic” option, not requiring voter approval.

Those in the county but outside Woodland and Battle Ground will still pay more as voters approved a countywide sales tax in the August primary election. The measure received about 58.8% of ballots in favor. The funds will go toward public safety. A portion of the funds will fund the establishment of a body and dash camera program for the Clark County Sheriff’s Office.

July: I-5 bridge replacement concept approved by committee

The plan to replace the aging Interstate 5 bridge over the Columbia River experienced a significant milestone in July as a joint committee of Oregon and Washington lawmakers approved a high-level concept for the project.

On July 21, the committee approved the locally preferred alternative (LPA). The plan will inform a federal environmental review process before construction can begin, which could be as early as late 2025.

More recently, the Interstate Bridge Replacement Program (IBRP) staff released an updated cost estimate for the bridge of between $5 billion to $7.5 billion. The December estimate is higher than one based on 2020 data which had a range up to $4.8 billion, in part due to inflationary increases.

September: Inslee announces end of state of emergency 

On Sept. 8, Inslee announced Washington’s state of emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic would end on Oct. 31. Washington was the first state in the U.S. to report a COVID-19 case in January of 2020. In February 2020, Inslee announced the state of emergency, which was among the 85 executive orders issued during the course of the pandemic.

Following the announcement, local lawmakers said the state of emergency should have ended sooner. 

“I’m glad the state of emergency will be over, but it will be critical for the Legislature to reflect on the errors that were made and take steps to make sure our laws are ready for the next emergency,” state Sen. Lynda Wilson, R-Vancouver, said.

September: Ridgefield teachers union goes on strike

Teachers at the Ridgefield School District went on strike for six days toward the start of the 2022-2023 school year.

On Sept. 9, the Ridgefield Education Association began a strike that lasted until teachers returned to classrooms on Sept. 19. Alongside salary increases based on cost of living adjustments, the union also wanted smaller class sizes for special education students and more paraeducator support. Another union request included more de-escalation training and disciplinary data research to seek solutions for students who break the rules.

Ridgefield was the only North Clark County district to strike this year. In 2018, numerous districts in the county held strikes based on increases in state funding for K-12 education that went into effect that year.

September: County announces creation of jail services department

Clark County began transitioning the operation of the county jail from the Clark County Sheriff’s Office to the county in September.

On Sept. 20, the Clark County Council voted unanimously to establish a county department of jail services.

Conversations about the county running the jail have taken place for years. Other large jurisdictions across the state, which include Spokane and King County, have had success using a similar model, county manager Kathleen Otto said at the time of the approval.

Six days later, Otto announced the appointment of David Shook as the Clark County director of jail services. Shook, who joined the Clark County Sheriff’s Office in 2020 after decades of law enforcement experience in Oregon, was one of three candidates who ran to replace outgoing sheriff Chuck Atkins, though Shook lost in the August primary election.

September, October: Fires near Kalama and  Larch Mountain burn

Two forest fires burned in or near Clark County this year, burning thousands of acres.

The first fire was discovered on Aug. 31 and burned southeast of the Kalama Horse Camp in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. The fire reached 435 acres by the end of September.

A week later, a fire near Larch Mountain was reported. The Nakia Creek Fire began on Oct. 9 and is believed to be human-caused.

By Oct. 23 the fire was reported at 1,918 acres. Evacuation orders at one point included 2,900 residences, though all of the orders were dropped on Oct. 20.

November: Marie Gluesenkamp Perez flips Third Congressional District

Washington’s Third Congressional District will have a Democratic representative next year, as Marie Gluesenkamp Perez won the November general election.

Gluesenkamp Perez eked out a win against Republican Joe Kent in the general election, gaining about 50.1% of the district wide vote. She was also able to get the first-place vote in the August primary with about 31% of the vote in a nine-candidate election.

Kent was able to defeat incumbent Republican Jaime Herrera Beutler in the primary, getting about 22.8% of the vote to Herrera Beutler’s roughly 22.3%. Herrera Beutler was first elected in 2010.