La Center’s city council race is the most competitive of Clark County’s municipal elections in 2021 as each of the three seats up for a vote have at least four candidates vying to win.
Alongside all five candidates for La Center City Council position 1, several candidates for the city’s open position 2 and position 3 seats took part in a remote candidate forum hosted by the League of Women Voters of Clark County on July 15. For both of those seats, an incumbent councilor faces off against three challengers in the August primary.
Position 2
Incumbent Dennis Hill took part in the forum alongside challengers David Nelson and KC Kasberg. Fellow challenger Kimberlee Elbon was unable to participate in the forum because of technical difficulties.
Moving to La Center in 2011, Hill was on the city’s planning commission for several years before receiving an appointment to council in December to replace Jon Stimmel, who moved out of the city.
Regarding the state of policing in La Center, Hill, a retired Boeing employee, said he is pleased with interim police chief Bob Richardson’s work with the sheriff’s office in coming up with a plan for the city’s public safety future.
“I think the key thing is we need to maintain and want to maintain a strong, viable, visible police force within the city limits and outside the city limits to our neighbors,” Hill said.
Hill said the city went from $3 million in revenue from cardrooms down to closer to $300,000 in 2020. He said redevelopment of the property with the Shell station is a positive change, adding the city has to continue looking long-range with its overall development.
“And it’s not new homes,” Hill said, adding that residential development is not going to bring the amount of tax revenue the city needs. Regardless of the long-term plan, Hill acknowledged the city is growing as the population inches closer to 4,000 people.
To help steer the city’s growth, Hill said the city has implemented zoning and code changes to prevent lot reduction to avoid “stacking homes on top of each other.”
When looking for employees to fill positions at the city, Hill stressed reaching beyond La Center for job openings.
“We need to be open about filling these positions with the best possible people, regardless of who they are and where they live,” Hill said.
Challenger David Nelson said he would bring engineering experience to the table, having worked in a variety of industries from fertilizer to automotive software programming.
“I have the technical chops and understanding of numbers and I’m always looking to continuously improve,” Nelson said.
Nelson said he wants to see the city’s police department restored and its business base widened, adding his understanding of technology would be an asset to outreach. He is also in favor of consolidating city offices and reducing the city’s use of consultants.
A Clark County native, Nelson is in favor of bringing in some non-enforcement aspects to the police force. He said the department is not working as efficiently as it should given how much of the city’s budget goes into it, pointing to relatively high salaries specifically. He believes there are likely funds within the budget to hire more officers and noted he thinks the city is overspending in finance, planning and legislative efforts compared to other municipalities.
“This is the safest community that I’ve ever been in, but moving forward we need to restore our police coverage,” Nelson said.
Nelson said he would restore the city policy back to collection of impact fees from development up front as opposed to after construction. He is also in favor of expanding business space to make the city more of a destination for travelers.
Nelson said the city is expanding by more than 3 percent on average every year and he wants to look at zoning changes and road expansion. For development, he said easier access to information on city processes would help.
“Our (city) website’s not good and we have a lot that we can do to fix that,” Nelson said.
Kasberg, a Clark County Sheriff’s Office commander, said he has experience working under county-level budget impacts at the sheriff’s office. He said it wouldn’t be possible to contract the same level of service with the sheriff’s office that the city historically had with its own police force.
“I think (the department was) funded a little too well for a number of years and that has now circled around and bit us,” Kasberg said.
He believes the police department is in its current position in part due to an overreliance on card room tax revenues to fund city services. Acknowledging planned development at the Interstate 5 junction as a step in the right direction, Kasberg is in favor of bringing more amenities into the city for residents.
“I think we’re populated enough now that we should have a grocery store, we should have a hardware store, so citizens don’t have to drive clear to Woodland or Salmon Creek or even what’s available in Ridgefield now,” Kasberg said.
A lifelong Clark County resident and La Center resident since 2013, Kasberg said it’s important to have a voice on council from someone with a school-aged child, like his son. When addressing growth, Kasberg said the city shouldn’t over-expand, and should have infrastructure in place for its projected population growth.
He said he felt past councils had done the best they could, but added, “now it’s time to bring some other people in,” Kasberg said.
Though she was not able to participate in the forum, Elbon did provide information through the Clark County Voters Guide. Elbon, an Army veteran and 30-year La Center resident, said she wants to get answers on why longtime, well-respected employees have been fired, pressured to quit or couldn’t continue in good conscience.
Elbon wrote she doesn’t believe the city governs “for the people and by the people,” adding she believes the city could prosper “with
(d)ignity” through a grassroots movement.
Position 3
The forum only featured half of the candidates for La Center City Council position 3 as incumbent Randy Williams and challenger Sean Boyle participated. Challenger Janice Fowler attempted to connect to the forum but was unable to do so, while Palmer Davis declined the invitation, the League of Women Voters said.
Williams, who was a member of the city planning commission before being appointed to council in 2010, has been elected three times to the seat and wants to continue on with the current council’s work.
“The council we have now is a great council and is willing to do what it takes to bring these businesses in,” Williams said.
Williams, who worked at General Electric for 37 years on large capital projects in hospitals and clinics, envisions La Center as a “high-tech housing area” with greater broadband availability. With Clark College at Boschma Farms planned for south of the city in Ridgefield, Williams expects an influx of residents. He pointed to redevelopment of
