Bart Hansen gives election perspective from city councilor who was not on the ballot

Vancouver City Councilor Bart Hansen reflected on election night, expressing gratitude to candidates, support for Proposition 5, opposition to Charter Amendment No. 13, and a call for more open public communication. File photo

Election night is not as stressful for those not on the ballot this year, but Vancouver City Councilor Bart Hansen still was very interested in the results and grateful for all the candidates — win or lose — who stepped up, ready and willing to serve

Paul Valencia
Clark County Today

Election night can be stressful for so many.

Not exactly stressful, however, for a local city councilor who was not on the ballot this year.

“It’s a Tuesday night with my wife. It’s coming home from a business trip and being able to sit back and watch the results come in,” said Bart Hansen, a Vancouver city councilor who was not up for reelection in this campaign season.

“I’m not big on going to election night parties,” he added. “I’m more of a homebody when it comes to that.”

Instead, he reached out to the other council members who won — or, technically, are winning — their campaigns to congratulate them. He also had a message for those who were not victorious.

“You cared enough to run for office,” he said, a salute to the courage of putting one’s name on a ballot. “I would love to see more people run for office.”

Hansen serves on the council in Position 4 and was reelected for the fourth time in 2023 for another four-year term. While he was not on the ballot this year, he remained a very interested party.

He appreciated that voters did pass Proposition 5, the Police Services Levy. He also is with the voters who said no to the proposed Charter Amendment No. 13, which would have created voting districts for the city.

Proposition 5 was leading 57 percent to 43 in the initial results released Tuesday night.

“I am very excited to see the funding has passed for more police officers in the City of Vancouver. It’s unfortunate that we have to go to the voters to fund core essential service,” Hansen said.

It should be up to the city leaders, including the council, to figure out a way to prioritize law enforcement from money already provided by the taxpayer, he said.

“That should be coming directly from property and sales tax and other funding sources to fund our core essential services, such as public safety,” Hansen said.

He called public safety his No. 1 priority.

As far as the Amendment 13, Hansen did not want voting districts for the city council. He said the city has been making strides, though, to address the concerns of those who were in favor of creating voting districts.

Amendment 13 was failing 57-43 in Tuesday’s results.

Hansen said he hopes more people will run for office from all parts of the city in the future.

“I’ve been doing this for 15 years. This is by far the most diverse council,” Hansen said. “We work well together. We might not agree on everything, but we work well together.”

Tuesday’s election will not be certified until the end of the month. There are ballots still to be counted. However, it appears that there will be no changes to the current leadership of the city.

Mayor Anne McEnerney-Ogle has a huge lead over challenger Justin Forsman.

The three incumbent city councilors who were on the ballot — Kim Harless, Erik Paulsen, and Diana Perez — all have big leads. In fact, Pooneh Gray is the only challenger to crack 40 percent in the initial release of results.

Hansen is looking forward to continuing to work with the rest of the council for the people of Vancouver.

He also hopes that his colleagues have a change of heart on a matter that is close to Hansen’s heart: Communication with the people.

Currently, the city council only allows public comment on agenda items during council meetings.

“I lost a 2-5 vote for the three minutes,” Hansen said, referring to going back to allowing any citizen to talk about anything they want for three minutes.

“When you are the average John Q. Citizen and you need to address us as members … if you are going to come down to City Hall on a Monday night, I want to give you your three minutes, whether it’s on the agenda or not. … I want to hear it.”

The votes are in, and they are still being counted, but for all intents and purposes, the election season has concluded in Vancouver.

“For those who did run, it’s been quite a campaign season, rather arduous,” Hansen said. “Glad to see that it’s over, and we can move forward.”