Vancouver resident Peter Bracchi believes Vancouver Mayor Anne McEnerny-Ogle should not seek another term
Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are those of the author alone and do not reflect the editorial position of ClarkCountyToday.com
As Vancouver prepares for another mayoral election, it’s time we look closely at the kind of leadership our city needs to move forward — leadership rooted in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), not just in identity, but in experience, perspective, and approach.
Mayor Anne McEnerny-Ogle has served with dedication and was a trailblazer as the city’s first female mayor. However, her background as a teacher has strongly influenced her leadership style — one that often feels top-down, process-driven, and insulated from the full diversity of voices in our community. Vancouver is not a classroom; it is a growing, dynamic city that deserves leadership drawn from a wider range of professional and life experiences.
To build a more inclusive future, we must invite new voices into leadership—people who reflect the racial, cultural, economic, and generational diversity of our city. We need leaders who understand collaboration beyond the boundaries of bureaucratic systems, and who bring fresh ideas from fields such as business, social services, environmental justice, technology, and beyond.
It’s not about discounting past service — it’s about recognizing when it’s time to step aside and make room for growth. For the benefit of DEI and our city’s future, I believe Mayor McEnerny-Ogle should not seek another term. Instead, let’s encourage new candidates to step forward — leaders who represent the full spectrum of Vancouver and are prepared to meet its complex challenges with new energy and inclusive vision.
Peter Bracchi
Vancouver
Also read:
- Opinion: Parent notification of medical services, mental health issues involving students is removed
A new Washington state law removes parental notification requirements for student medical and mental health issues, reversing protections established by a 2023 voter-approved initiative. - Opinion: ‘Vancouver doesn’t have to end up like Portland or LA’Clark County Matters urges Vancouver’s mayor and City Council to act now to restrict public homeless camps, warning that inaction could mirror outcomes seen in Portland and Los Angeles.
- Opinion: ‘Governor Ferguson agrees parents have no rights’Let’s Go Washington founder Brian Heywood criticized Governor Ferguson for signing HB 1296, calling it a direct attack on parental rights in Washington.
- Opinion: What is liberty worth?Nancy Churchill explores how the lure of federal funding erodes local control, using real examples from Washington and rural America.
- Opinion: Prescription price controls and rationing would undermine the innovation that has saved so many
Todd Myers argues that U.S. adoption of prescription price controls would endanger future medical innovation and limit patient access to life-changing treatments.
This coming election, voters better ask themselves if they truly, truly feel the city is headed in the right direction?
For a refresher, as you ponder who to vote for:
***Take a drive on Fourth Plain from Main St. (downtown) all the way east to Andresen. Where did the four-lanes go? How’d we end up with a main arterial now being only two-lanes?
***How do you like all the filthy, drug-infested, homeless encampments and trash generated by them? Had much “petty crime” in your neighborhood? Smash-n-grabs? Care to guess the reason?
***How do you like the downtown parking situation of fewer spaces at increased prices? And a new garage from which you can’t exit in a timely manner?
***How do you like the overall condition of city streets? Hit many pot holes lately? Are you successful in dodging the sunken manhole covers that seem to be at least two per block, and always in the tire-lane?
***How do you like your city taxes nowadays, since all the developers are given tax-exemptions for all the “affordable” housing they’ve built, allowing the tax-paying middle-class to pick up the slack?
***How do you like that special homeless city tax you pay? Feel like you’re getting your money’s worth?
Every candidate better be able to specifically address each of the above topics before I’ll vote for him/her. But one thing for sure…
Mayor annie ogle must be shown the door!
Well said. These are some of the REAL issues. Do not worry about DEI as mentioned above.
Making a case for candidates based on DEI – Diversity. Equity & Inclusion is not where i thought we would ever be in my lifetime. I have watched Clark county slowly fall just as Portland did as more of their residents left the city, moving over the river fleeing the situation they voted & now recreating here. I’m not naive the Pacific Northwest has ALWAYS BEEN fairly left, Clark County has been moderate leaning up until recently. Data shows that Portland residents have moved over here in droves, in all honesty I don’t mind. What I can’t figure out is WHY WOULD YOU BRING THE SAME HABITS that made you leave a city that was ONCE CLEARLY DESIRABLE HERE ONLY TO RUIN ANOTHER DESIRABLE CITY? As the first commenter so eloquently pointed out OUR CITY IS IN A DECLINE! Which was NOT THE CASE JUST 5-7 years ago! But now, potholes, crime, homelessness, drugs, and we have an out of control legislature- THE SAME PATH AS PORTLAND & OREGON TOOK – the suggestion is for candidates to run on the basis of DEI? This is absurd!
We need candidates who are QUALIFIED, I don’t care what they look like, who they love, or if they are blue, blind or left handed! If they can do the job FANTASTIC! If a candidate is white and IS NOT QUALIFIED THEY SHOULD NOT RUN, but if a candidate is black, a woman and is ready to get tough on crime, crack down on drugs, take care of our officers & STAND UP TO OLYMPIA AND STAND UP FOR CLARK COUNTY IM ALL ABOUT THAT CANDIDATE! I don’t care what the candidate looks like, male/female or even who they are married too! I take what MLK SAID SERIOUSLY- we judge people on the content of THEIR CHARACTER- NOT THE COLOR OF THEIR SKIN, or NOW GENDER OR SEXUAL IDENTITY! Let’s get a mayor who is QUALIFIED- stop with the DEI! It’s about character & merit! We a safe and secure community, not an ideological cult society!
Stop with this nonsense, all of this is divisive & putting our society back YEARS! If we live in a society that judges people based on race WE WILL FAIL. I love this state too much to fail. If someone feels they are should be elevated because of their race or gender- they should ask themselves why? Wouldn’t you rather be elevated or elected BECAUSE YOU EARNED IT? Regardless of race, gender or sexual orientation? That’s how we should see & treat each other- if people truly want to be equal you HAVE TO EARN YOUR PLACE, NO ONE is automatically entitled to anything. Earning & working for a position also makes a person accountable.
WA & OR has failed at accountability, it’s a BIG REASON WHY OUR STATE IS FAILING- look at CA. Many people have warned us to be careful- people coming from the far left who have moved to the middle like Julian Michael’s, and the girl from Young Turks, Adam Corrola as well. People fail to listen.
I pray after the Democrats in Olympia who just voted in the largest tax increase in states history (after the largest deficit in history) that people in WA wake up. – as our state was THE ONLY STATE in this last election to go FURTHER LEFT – every single state voted more moderate or republican except WA.. our voter turnout was ridiculous low so if we don’t vote the Democrats will keep passing ridiculous laws.