Get out the vote

Camas-Washougal community members packed into the Camas High School theater Monday night to hear from political candidates running for county, state and federal positions at the 16th annual Camas Youth Advisory Council (CYAC) Candidate Forum.

CYAC students invited eight candidates, and seven showed up to answer questions generated by local youth. Republican Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, fighting for her 3rd District seat in Congress, was the only candidate unable to attend the Oct. 22 forum.

Herrera Beutler’s opponent, Democratic candidate Carolyn Long, a political science professor at Washington State University, Vancouver, raced to Camas High after hosting a town hall in Vancouver earlier that evening, and said she wished Herrera Beutler had been able to attend the forum, since Long strongly believes in the power of speaking in-person to people she hopes to represent in Washington D.C.

“I have held 45 town halls in front of almost 3,400 people, which is my way of getting out there and hearing what you have to say … that’s what true representation is all about,” Long said, during her opening statement Monday night. “I am present, accountable and committed to fighting for the people of Southwest Washington. If elected, I will do the same thing I am doing now, which is meeting with you as much as possible.”

Asked by the students why she feels it is important to hold in-person town halls, Long said live town halls give her a chance to look people in the eye and tell them about her positions, and gives constituents a chance to look candidates in the eye and ask difficult questions.

“It’s so difficult to do this if you’re removed by the phone, or if you don’t make an effort to go out and (meet in-person),” Long said. “My town halls are open to everyone. They’re usually 90-minute affairs. I spend the first five minutes introducing myself, and then the rest of the time answering questions. My questions aren’t screened. I don’t have fancy notes. I’m just telling you my positions as openly as I can.”

If she doesn’t have an answer, Long said, she will let people know that, too.

“No candidate can have the answer to every question, but we should all have the strong desire to learn more — not only about the policy, but about how constituents feel about an issue,” Long said.

The students asked Long how she might solve problems associated with the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which Republicans dubbed “Obamacare.”

“The ACA is imperfect, but it provided care for 26 million Americans,” Long said, noting that current Republican legislators have tried to get rid of the ACA 40 times, and voted to take away the Act’s “individual mandates,” which removed incentives for healthy people to get health insurance and raised costs for everyone else.

Instead of scrapping the ACA, Long said she would like to “be part of the solution in the House of Representatives.”

Long said she supported an ACA solution like the bipartisan health-care bill Washington Sen. Patty Murray, a Democrat, and Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander, a Republican, crafted in 2017, which would have restored cost-saving measures and allowed states more leeway in regulating health insurance plans. Though the bill had bipartisan support, Republicans in Congress pushed it off in an attempt to repeal the ACA entirely, and later left out of a spending bill.

Long said the bill could help “shore up” the ACA, ensuring that more Americans have access to affordable health care plans.

Clark County Council Chair

Although Long’s race against incumbent Herrera Beutler has picked up national attention — with Long even garnering support from former President Barack Obama — the youth-led Camas High candidate forum focused equal attention on important county and state races.

The first two candidates to speak at Monday night’s forum were Clark County Council Chair candidates Eric Holt, a Democrat, and Clark County Councilwoman Eileen Quiring, a Republican.

Quiring said she was more concerned about the sales tax revenues Clark County may be losing when county residents go across the state line to buy goods in Oregon, which has no sales tax. She said the county’s revenues are up, but so are funding requests.

“We need to be responsible with every department when they come (to county council) with requests,” Quiring said.

The county councilwoman added that she supports a ban on recreational marijuana sales in unincorporated Clark County, because she believes the revenues would be negated by a need for more law enforcement and health services.

“Regardless of revenue (from cannabis sales and related taxes) … I believe we’ll have to spend more on social services,” Quiring said.

Holt countered that voters in Washington state clearly approved of recreational marijuana sales throughout the state — in cities and rural areas — and wondered if Quiring feels the same way about selling alcohol in unincorporated parts of the county, given alcohol’s connection to a greater need for law enforcement and social services.

18th Legislative District, Position 1

Candidates for the 18th Legislative District, Position 1, followed the County Council Chair candidates at the Camas High forum.

CYAC students asked Republican incumbent Rep. Brandon Vick and his Democratic challenger, Chris Thobaben, questions about public school funding, transparency for legislators’ public records and school safety.

“Safety in schools is an incredibly important issue. In 2018 alone, the United States has averaged one school shooting per week. This year, Camas High School changed their evacuation plan from having students meet as one body in a fenced off football field, to spreading out classes all across campus,” the students told the state legislative candidates. “Where do you draw the line between right to bear arms and protecting the children of Washington state?”

Thobaben, a reserve officer in the United States Marine Corps, answered first, saying he is a responsible gun owner, but that he believes guns have gone from a tool to a toy in recent years.

“Guns have gone from a tool to achieve an end — and that end is killing, let’s not mince words — to a status symbol, a toy, that we have devalued in terms of our everyday lives.”

Speaking of school shooters, Thobaben said many of the shooters got their guns from family members who hadn’t locked the guns away, or taught children “how to treat guns with respect … or the value of human life and dignity.”

Thobaben, who calls himself a centrist Democrat, said he would like to see people encouraged at point of sale to lock up their guns — something he believes would also help reduce the number of veteran suicides in the U.S.

There are 22 veterans a day committing suicide, and most use guns because “guns are efficient,” Thobaben said. “Suicide is a 5-minute decision. If I have to go through getting my gun (out of a gun safe), that gives me an extra two or three minutes to think about my decision and maybe call a friend.”

He added that he believes the state also needs to take care of mentally ill citizens to help reduce the number of mass shootings, and said schools need to have adequate funding for counselors.

Republican Rep. Vick said he would argue against using the word “epidemic” to describe mass shootings in the United States.

18th Legislative District, Position 2

The end of the forum focused on candidates Kathy Gillespie, a Democrat and former Vancouver School Board member, and Republican Larry Hoff, a former credit union CEO, who are hoping to snag retiring Rep. Liz Pike’s 18th Legislative District, Position 2 seat.

The students asked both candidates why they ran for office, what they thought of the school-funding “McCleary” fix that challenged bargaining agreements between school districts and teachers unions throughout Washington this school year, and how they would address global climate change.

“The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change last week published a report saying the world needs to take urgent and unprecedented action before there will be irreversible climate change,” the student moderator said to Gillespie and Hoff. “What policies would you propose the legislature take to address this looming issue?”

Gillespie answered first, and said her own children, ages 22 and 20, likely spend a great deal of time wondering what their future will be like in the face of serious climate change.

“Washington is fortunate that we have hydroelectric power, which helps us reduce our carbon footprint,” Gillespie said. “But that doesn’t mean Washington can’t be a great leader in terms of finding new ways to produce energy and to set very high standards.”