All County Council candidates have been invited to the event to be held at the Black Pearl on the Columbia in Washougal

Rob Anderson
For Clark County Today

There’s no doubt that the last couple of years have been difficult for many to say the least.  Unprecedented closures, businesses collapsing, people too scared to be around others, shoot, people couldn’t even go to church or kids play on playgrounds.  Hospitals jammed full and nursing homes locked down and outbreaks and quarantines. 

Typically in tough times people come together like what we saw on 9/11 or other hard times but I didn’t see that happen this time.  There’s many reasons why but I’m not sure which is more responsible but I do know that we can’t let it continue.  We must come together.  That doesn’t mean we can’t still have our differences of opinion or beliefs, it just means we need to come and sit at the table and talk about not only what we see as challenges but what we see are the solutions.  Answers that not only benefit one side but help everyone.

This week it was released that the average person is dealing with a 37 percent increase in prices or inflation of costs related to groceries (12.2 percent), gasoline (59.9 percent) and utilities (38.4 percent) which is something that hasn’t been seen for 40 years.  Crime is up… homelessness is up… prices are up,,, property taxes are up… but many more things are looming for our county, like the need for a new bridge and jail and so much more.

Now is the time when we need solutions.  We need to come together at the same table and talk about the challenges, but more importantly the solutions and ideas to solve them.

That is a big reason why I decided to organize a Clark County Candidates Forum on Wed., July 20 at the Black Pearl.  We need to sit at the same table, like adults, and talk about the topics and lay out our ideas.  The voters need to know what these candidates think and what actions they will take on our behalf.  Where you fall on the spectrum of politics isn’t as important as your ideas and real-time actions you plan to take for our communities.

All candidates have been invited to participate in the forum. The candidates in District 1 are Glen Yung, Doug Coop and Hector Hinojosa. The District 2 candidates are Chartisha Roberts, Kim Hamlik and Michelle Belkot. In District 5, the candidates are Don Benton, Sue Marshall, Rick Torres and Richard Rylander.   

I invite you to be engaged and come out and hear for yourselves.  If you like what you hear, do something about it.  If you don’t like it then you’ll know how to vote and maybe volunteer for change.  We must stay civil and engaged and be willing to listen and not give up.

See you next Wednesday at 6 p.m.  

Click HERE for more info on the Forum and tickets [https://www.eventbrite.com/e/clark-county-council-candidate-forum-tickets-351287840387