Wil Fuentes, who was named to the C-TRAN Board of Directors last year amid controversial actions, was voted in as the board’s vice chair for 2026, and the member he replaced on the board, Michelle Belkot, questions the decision-making process of that move

Paul Valencia
Clark County Today

Most of the C-TRAN Board of Directors made it clear Tuesday night where they stand in regard to Wil Fuentes being on the board instead of Michelle Belkot.

Directors voted, with one no vote, to elect Fuentes as the 2026 vice chair for the C-Tran board. 

If you recall, Fuentes was named to replace Belkot on the board in 2025, part of an act that remains in legal limbo. 

Belkot was one of the Clark County Council’s representatives on the C-TRAN board last year. When she made it clear her intention to vote to protect taxpayers from being on the hook for annual operations and maintenance costs associated with light rail, should light rail be included in the new Interstate Bridge project, her colleagues on the council cried foul. They removed her from the C-TRAN board and installed Fuentes. 

Soon after Belkot’s removal, two lawsuits were filed and one criminal investigation was carried out, with recommendations for fines and possible criminal charges against the Clark County Council for its actions. One lawsuit was withdrawn, but Belkot’s suit — in which she is asking to be reinstated to the C-TRAN board — remains pending.

Some 10 months later, the language on the Modified Locally Preferred Alternative (MLPA) for C-TRAN in regard to O&M costs for light rail says “C-TRAN may participate in the funding.” 

Belkot wanted to vote for the language to say “will not” fund. Had the vote taken place last March, Belkot would have been the deciding vote to protect taxpayers from paying for TriMet’s extension into downtown Vancouver.

Now, the councilor who replaced Belkot on the board has been elevated to vice chair.

“I think it complicates things because of my pending litigation,” Belkot said Wednesday morning. “His votes are in question. We don’t know what’s going to happen with my lawsuit.

“They don’t seem to be very mindful that there is ongoing litigation,” she continued. “It’s not good decision making.”

Tim Hein, representing Camas, was the lone no vote Tuesday night. He told Clark County Today that he thought the choice to nominate Fuentes was odd because Fuentes could lose his seat on the board, depending on the outcome of Belkot’s case. Plus, Fuentes lives in Vancouver. This year’s new chair is Bart Hansen of the city of Vancouver. Adding Fuentes to vice chair gives the top two leadership positions on the board to Vancouver residents.

Fuentes said the work of the C-TRAN board must continue, and he has accepted this new role.

“I think we’ll just have to wait,” Fuentes said after Tuesday’s meeting, regarding the judge’s decision.

“I’m here to do my job,” Fuentes added. “I was elected to be vice chair of the C-TRAN board, and that’s the job I will be doing, until I am told not to.”

To be fair, there is no significant added responsibility to being vice chair. Fuentes would run the board meetings when Hansen is absent.

If the move was symbolic, though, it was a message against Belkot and her supporters. 

It was, after all, Vancouver Mayor Anne McEnerny-Ogle who nominated Fuentes for vice chair. Last spring, an audio recording was leaked of a city councilor bragging that the mayor had “set the trap” for Belkot, leading to Belkot’s removal from the C-TRAN board and the move to put Fuentes on the board. 

One member of the public could be overheard saying “questionable” after hearing the nomination made by McEnerny-Ogle. That same person also said “nay” during the voting process. Officially, only one board member voted no: That was Hein.

“There is ongoing litigation that is going to contest Wil’s seat, his presence on the C-TRAN board,” Hein said. “Will is also a resident of Vancouver. You combine the presence of the chair (Hansen) with Wil, and there is an imbalance.”

The C-TRAN Board Composition Review Committee has been working separately on trying to find a balance for representation on the C-TRAN Board of Directors. 

And now this move? To put two Vancouver residents in charge of the board? That bothers Hein.

“They want to know why smaller cities feel disregarded?” he asked.

Belkot was surprised to learn of the vice chair vote.

“It seems very dismissive of my litigation,” Belkot said. “Maybe they are confident nothing is going to happen to him, or I should say, them.”

Belkot clarified that by “them” she was talking about her colleagues on the Clark County Council. 

It was last March when the four other county councilors — Sue Marshall, Glen Yung, Matt Little, and Fuentes — voted to remove Belkot from the C-TRAN board. It should be noted that at the next council meeting, Little did change his vote, in favor of keeping Belkot on the board.

In the ensuing weeks, besides the lawsuits, a criminal investigation was conducted. The Skamania County Sheriff’s Office was asked to investigate due to a potential conflict of interest if the Clark County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case. 

In November 2025, Clark County Today reported the findings of that investigation. The council, and the county manager, violated rules. The recommendation was for fines for the councilors and a potential criminal charge for the manager. The recommendations are not binding. 

The report was forwarded to the office of the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney Tony Golik. In November, he told Clark County Today that his office would ask an outside prosecutor’s office to review the Skamania County report. 

Since then, Golik has not returned multiple messages asking which office was forwarded the case, including a message sent Wednesday morning.

Last April, the C-TRAN board delayed the vote on the language of the MLPA, acknowledging that any vote made by Fuentes could be overturned if it is, indeed, ruled that he was placed on the board in violation of county rules. 

But by September, the board did vote on the language and maintained that Clark County taxpayers “may” fund light rail O&M. 

If Belkot wins her case, what happens to that vote in September? What happens moving forward?

Those answers are unknown at this time.

The C-TRAN Board of Directors, though, is moving forward, with Fuentes as vice chair.