Primary season heats up for local city council, Port Commission seats

Several local elected officials will face challengers in the Nov. 7 general election. Port of Camas-Washougal Commissioner John Spencer and challenger Mark Forbes have filed as candidates for the Port District 1 position. Spencer succeeded Mark Lampton, by appointment, in September 2015. At that time, Forbes was one of the six candidates who sought that appointment. Forbes, director of marketing content for Altium LLC, a software company, is a former secretary of the Lookout Ridge Homeowner's Association who previously served as president of the Rocklin School Board, in California. Port Commissioner Larry Keister will seek election to the seat that he was appointed to in March 2017. Adam Parsley has also filed for the Port District 3 position. Incumbent Washougal City Council members Brent Boger, Paul Greenlee and Ray Kutch do not have any challengers. Boger has served on the council since July 2012, and Greenlee has been a council member since April 2007. Kutch succeeded Jennifer McDaniel, by appointment, in February 2017. Dave Shoemaker, in his eighth year as a council member, will not seek another term. Julie Russell, Nettie Morris and Adam Philbin have filed for the Council Position 6. Russell was one of nine applicants who went through the interview process with Kutch. She and Kutch proceeded to the final round of questions before the council voted 4 to 2, in favor of Kutch. Russell, a licensed marriage and family therapist and mental health counselor, as well as registered play therapist, is a former Tigard, Oregon, Water District commissioner. Morris, a former vice president and shop steward of the American Federation of State county and Municipal Employees, previously worked as a program manager and lead residential support specialist for adults with disabilities. The retired mental health specialist has lived in Washougal for 12 years. Morris is a former employee and volunteer at the West Columbia Gorge Humane Society, in Washougal. Philbin, a 10-year Washougal resident, is the manager of security and risk at Shriners Hospitals for Children in Portland. He is a former volunteer firefighter and emergency medical technician in King County, Washington. Camas City Council member Melissa Smith will face Emilia Brasier and Amanda Stamness in the Aug. 1 primary, for the Ward 1 seat. Smith was appointed to the City Council in March 2004, then elected in November 2005. Brasier, a former secretary for the Lacamas Summit Homeowners Association, previously worked as a student therapist for the Salvation Army residential treatment program and Head Start. She manages the online outreach and organization of Brasier Law. Stamness has worked in the financial services industry for 21 years. She is a project director and Municipal Advisor Professional. Camas City Councilors Steve Hogan and Shannon Turk will run unopposed, to represent wards 2 and 3, respectively. The primary election will be held Aug. 1, and the general election is set for Nov. 7. For more information, visit www.clark.wa.gov/elections.

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