Term of Camas-Washougal port officials on ballot

East Clark County voters will soon decide whether to lengthen Port of Camas-Washougal commissioner terms by two years.

Port commissioners earlier this year decided to place Proposition 1, which would extend their terms from four to six years, on the Nov. 4 ballot.

“By changing to a six-year term, one person can turn over every two years, and the new commissioners will have time to get settled into a position before anything comes up,” Commissioner John Spencer said during a July 16 port meeting. “The current situation is bad policy because it can severely hamper port operations.”

Washington Senate Bill 5370, signed into law by Gov. Bob Ferguson on May 17, amends state law to create a process for qualifying ports to modify commissioner terms from four years to six years by getting voter approval.

“We don’t get to decide,” Port CEO Trang Lam said during a July 30 meeting. “We actually only get to ask the people to decide.”

If the proposal is approved by voters, newly elected commissioners will serve six-year terms. If two commissioners are elected at the same time, the candidate receiving the most votes will serve a six-year term and the other will serve a four-year term. Future successors will then be elected to six-year terms.

“I think it’s really important that the port has consistency so the community knows what it is that we’re doing,” Commissioner Larry Keister, who is up for reelection, said during the July 16 meeting.

Many Washington port districts that are not countywide and do not have a population of 100,000 or more already have six-year terms for their commissioners.

The majority of the 75 ports in Washington, including Vancouver and Ridgefield, are run by three commissioners serving six-year terms. Seven port districts, including Camas-Washougal, have three commissioners serving four-year terms, meaning that every other election cycle, two-thirds of the commission is up for reelection.

The proposition states that six-year terms provide “stability, ensure continuity for long-term infrastructure and economic development projects, and maintain institutional knowledge, especially in mid to smaller communities where it may be difficult to recruit candidates.”

The Clark County voters’ pamphlet does not include an “against” statement for the proposition.

“I was looking for somebody that would write the opposition, and I was not able to find anybody,” Keister said during the July 30 meeting. “I really reached out to some people that don’t usually agree with me, and they got back to me and said, ‘That sounds like a good idea for the continuity moving forward with what the port is doing.’ ”