Larry Keister is appointed to Port post

A member of the Cape Horn Conservancy board and Port of Camas-Washougal waterfront committee has been selected to serve as the port’s District 3 commissioner.

Larry Keister was appointed by Port Commissioners Bill Ward and John Spencer during a special meeting Tuesday.

“He will go further, the fastest,” Ward said, when he nominated Keister.

“He already buys into the direction we are going,” Spencer said, before voting.

The other applicants were Michael Conway, Bruce Fuerstenberg, Eric Gibson, Joshua Seeds and Lucia Worthington.

“There is a great reservoir of talent in this community,” Ward said.

After the vote, Spencer encouraged the applicants to continue being involved.

Keister, 70, is a retired water quality technician for the Portland Veterans Administration Medical Center.

He and his wife, Sherri Irish, live on 53 acres in rural Washougal.

“I would like to have a bigger role in the community and continue the work I’ve been involved with,” Keister said, after the meeting. “I am already very involved.”

He will be sworn in Tuesday, April 4, at 5 p.m., in the port office meeting room, 24 S. “A” St., Washougal.

Keister succeeds Bill Macrae-Smith, who announced his resignation Feb. 7. After serving on the commission from 1984 to 1987, Macrae-Smith was elected in 2009 and re-elected in 2013. Macrae-Smith’s most recent term was scheduled to end Dec. 31, 2017.

If Keister is interested in continuing to serve on the commission, he will need to file with the Clark County Elections office during candidate filing week May 15-19. The primary election will be held Aug. 1, and the general election is set for Nov. 7.

Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey has said the new appointee will serve until the general election’s results are certified Nov. 28. The person elected to the District 3 commission seat will serve the remainder of this year and the next four years.

For more information, visit www.clark.wa.gov/elections.