Current Battle Ground Mayor Adrian Cortes has announced that he will not seek a second two-year term in the appointed position as he plans to return to a regular council seat after a tenure marked by the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Nov. 29, Cortes announced his intention not to seek another term. He said he’s been contemplating the decision for the past month.
“Everything I’ve been through as mayor, obviously, it’s been a whirlwind,” Cortes said. “Not just challenging, but also fulfilling, but at the end of the day, I needed a break.”
After assuming the mayoral role two months before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Cortes presided over a council faced with shutdowns and restrictions that were put into place.
“You don’t get to choose the time and place when you can lead,” Cortes said. “You just do the best you can with the current circumstances and you make sure you are doing it for the right reasons.”
Cortes faced backlash during his tenure from some citizens. In September, councilor Brian Munson put forth an ordinance that would have prevented the city from enforcing masking and vaccine mandates for public employees and on public property.
Citizens rallied around Munson’s ordinance in demonstrations that included a protest in front of Cortes’ home. He reflected on the controversy and “just the level of hostility out there in politics these days.”
“You’re the head of the city, so when there’s any issues whatsoever, people come to you first, and so it really demands a lot of your time,” Cortes said.
Cortes pointed to a number of accomplishments the city had while he presided as mayor. They included paying off the city hall building and the Battle Ground Community Center, cutting utility taxes and the approval of a resolution that banned local income taxes.
“Just any one of those in a given term would be significant and we were able to accomplish all of those just in my tenure,” Cortes said. “But it wasn’t because of just me. It was because we’ve been able to work great as a council together and I’m just privileged I was able to be mayor during that time.”
Since Battle Ground has a council-manager form of government, the mayor title is largely ceremonial as the city manager has executive power to handle day-to-day city operations. The mayor presides as the chair of council meetings and has a vote equal to other councilors on council matters.
Cortes will serve as mayor through the end of the year. The Battle Ground City Council will nominate a new mayor at its first city council meeting of 2022.
In a social media post, Cortes said Battle Ground “would be well served” by appointing current deputy mayor Philip Johnson to Cortes’ current position once he steps down. Cortes told The Reflector he’s given a “full-fledged endorsement” of Johnson, who served as mayor in 2016 and 2017.
“He’s been by my side as deputy and (has) done a stellar job,” Cortes said.
When he assumes the role of a regular councilor, Cortes said he wants to push for securing federal infrastructure funding for local projects. In particular, he would like to serve as the city’s representative on the Southwest Washington Regional Transportation Council.
“I think what we’re going to see in the next probably two to three years are an enormous amount of local projects that are completed because of those federal funds,” Cortes said. “I’d like to just be a small part of helping make that happen.”
Outside of city government work, Cortes is also pursuing higher education. He said he will finish his doctorate in education from George Fox University in 2022.
Currently a teacher at Camas High School and the City University of Seattle, Cortes said the degree may allow him to expand his work in collegiate teaching.
“For me, it’s been a personal goal that I wanted to accomplish, number one, to be a better teacher,” Cortes said.
