C-W residents to seek County Council seat

Two local residents have announced they will be candidates for the Clark County Council District 4 Seat. Roman Battan, of Camas, and Jennifer McDaniel, of Washougal, will face incumbent Tom Mielke in the Aug. 2 primary election. Mielke, of Battle Ground, said Monday he plans to seek re-election. He is a Republican and former chairman of the Clark County Board of Commissioners. Battan, 35, will run as a Democrat. He said he is running because the county government needs more transparency and accountability in its workings. "Voters enacted a new charter to increase citizen involvement by allowing councilors to represent smaller individual districts," Battan said. "By design, the goal of the charter was to improve accessibility for people. I think that listening to constituents is going to be a key part of my role on the council when providing oversight." Battan, a 1999 Camas High School graduate, owns Northern Media, a Camas company that provides video production and web and software development. He sought the Clark County Commission District 2 seat in 2012. In the Aug. 7 primary election, he lost to Marc Boldt, of Brush Prairie. Boldt lost to David Madore, in the Nov. 6, 2012, general election. In addition to being a Watershed Steward, Battan feeds homeless people as a volunteer with Human Solutions, and he maintains the website for Mostly Mutts Animal Rescue. He is the communications and technology director for the Clark County Democrats. McDaniel, 49, will run as a Republican and considers herself to be a moderate conservative. She has served on the Washougal City Council since 2008. "As a strong advocate for East County, I will work hard to unite the county on issues important to Clark County residents," McDaniel said. "I have many years of experience working with diverse groups of politicians, and at finding common ground. I will bring that skill set to our county council." She is the branch office administrator of an Edward Jones financial services firm, in Washougal. Her community involvement has included serving on the Washougal Schools Foundation, the Camas-Washougal Chamber of Commerce and the Clark College Business boards. McDaniel has volunteered for Meals on Wheels, Unite! Washougal Community Coalition, Girl Scouts of America and the Washougal Arts and Cultural Alliance. Mielke, 73, previously served four terms as a state representative for the 18th legislative district. He has been a county commissioner since January 2009. Each commissioner's title changed to councilor in 2015, because Clark County moved to a home rule charter form of government. Mielke owned Tom Mielke Trucking, for 18 years, after working for the Washington Water Power Co. (now Avista Corp.), for 17 years. As a county councilor, he serves on the Board of Health, the Board of Greater Clark Parks District, the Emergency Medical Services Districts and Industrial Revenue Bond boards. Mielke is also on the Endangered Species Act Lower Columbia Fish Recovery and Water Resource Inventory Area boards, as well as the Southwest Washington Clean Air Agency, Vancouver Library, capital facilities and North County Emergency Medical Services boards. The filing period for candidates is May 16 through 20. For more information, call the Clark County Elections Office at 397-2345 or visit www.clarkvotes.org.

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