Voters in November will elect a new 15-member Clark County Charter Review Commission whose countywide members could determine significant changes to the County Home Rule Charter
VANCOUVER – Longtime Vancouver resident and community activist, Ann Donnelly is seeking a position on the nonpartisan Charter Review Commission, District 1, Position 2. The seat will represent downtown Vancouver, neighborhoods around Vancouver Lake, the Minnehaha area, and those east to Interstate 205. The general election is set for Nov. 4, 2025.
Voters in November will elect a new 15-member Clark County Charter Review Commission whose countywide members could determine significant changes to the County Home Rule Charter.
“It is a privilege and a responsibility to live in a county with Home Rule,” Donnelly said in announcing her candidacy. “The Charter serves as the county’s bylaws and constitution, helping to define what the county can do and in some cases what it must do. The Review Commission has a big responsibility.”
Donnelly has received early endorsements from former Vancouver City Council member, Larry J. Smith, former Clark County Councilor Marc Boldt and Clark County Sheriff John Horch. In his endorsement statement, Horch said, “Ann’s service on many county and nonprofit boards in various fields has given her an appreciation for the breadth and complexity of our county’s challenges and of how to work together to solve them.”
Donnelly currently serves on the Clark County Law and Justice Council, the Salvation Army Advisory Board and is secretary of the Children’s Justice Center Friends board. She is a longtime advocate for mental health services in the county and has been a board member and president of NAMI (National Alliance of Mental Illness) Southwest Washington. She and her husband, Mike Donnelly, have annually sponsored the Donnelly Walk for Mental Health in Vancouver for the past 14 years.
Ann Donnelly has been active on the Clark College Foundation Board, the Fort Vancouver Regional Library Board and was among the original directors of the Center for the Arts of Southwest Washington. She has served as chair of the Southcliff Neighborhood Association. She is a past board member of Columbia River Mental Health Services and of its Foundation.
An advocate for public safety, Donnelly co-founded the Clark County Public Safety Alliance, supporting the county’s public safety tax, locally sited Police Academy, and improved law enforcement staffing. She helped originate the unique Angels with Badges awards, which recognizes the region’s police officers and support staff for heroic work.
Donnelly holds a B.Sc. degree in geology from Stanford University and a Ph.D. degree in geology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her career has been in energy project consulting throughout North America. The Donnellys have lived in Vancouver for 37 years.
In announcing her Charter Review Commission candidacy, Donnelly said, “Solutions are rarely simple. Leading diverse teams of experts within my energy-industry consulting profession has prepared me for public service. In this case, public service requires analyzing needs and objectives, and then reaching consensus among various viewpoints, to arrive at the best solutions.”
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