Battan, Quiring eye County Council seat

Battan, of Camas, said he believes in good governance, streamlining operations, prioritizing the way the county spends money and being more accountable to people.

Clark County Council public hearings are held Tuesdays, at 10 a.m., in the sixth-floor hearing room of the Public Service Center, 1300 Franklin St., Vancouver.

On the first Tuesday of the month, hearings begin at 6 p.m., at the same location.

“We should reach out to the east and north side of the county and potentially have meetings at night in the Camas-Washougal area and Battle Ground,” Battan said.

He would like to see an increase in economic development, with the Columbia River Economic Development Council actively engaging businesses to expand the area’s tax base.

Battan, 35, wants cities in East Clark County, including Camas and Washougal, to have some say in how they grow geographically, in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way.

Battan said he is an advocate for the replacement of the I-5 bridge.

“It is an aging piece of infrastructure,” he said. “Sixty-thousand [Washington] residents go across the bridge to Oregon to work.

“We need more business investment here, so fewer people have to commute,” Battan added.

He said if it is affordable, he thinks there should be light rail service extension from Portland to Vancouver “or at the very least build the infrastructure [for light rail] for a later addition.”

Battan, a 1999 Camas High School graduate, owns Northern Media, a Camas company that provides video production and web and software development.

His previous occupations have included sales director for a software company and manager for Komet USA and York/Johnson Controls.

Battan has a bachelor’s degree in business administration, with an emphasis in finance, from WSU-Vancouver.

In addition to being a Watershed Steward, he feeds homeless people as a volunteer with Human Solutions, and he maintains the website for Mostly Mutts Animal Rescue. He is the communications and technology director for the Clark County Democrats.

Eileen Quiring

Attracting industries with good paying jobs to Clark County would be among Quiring’s priorities, if elected.

She said, during a recent phone interview, another issue of interest is private property rights for urban and rural residents.

Quiring, of Vancouver, talked about making government efficient and looking for ways to remove redundancy and waste.

She said the Sheriff’s department is having difficulty recruiting and training personnel.

Sheriff Chuck Atkins has requested budget authority from the Board of County Councilors to replace current inmate jail beds with suicide resistant beds.

“The justice system is a high priority, to be funded and addressed at the county level,” Quiring said.

She serves on the Clark County Planning Commission and the Clark County Board of Equalization.

“I have been a policy maker before,” Quiring said. “The planning commission makes recommendations to the county council on land use issues.

“That experience will help me be a good policy maker and advocate for people in the county,” she added. “I would listen to all, take issues into account and make a decision based upon core principles and the voice of the people. I have experience in the public and private sector.”

“So rather than replace the bridge, I would support an additional bridge,” she said.

Quiring said she does not support light rail extension from Portland to Vancouver.

“The people of Clark County have made their statement through an advisory vote clear [in November 2012],” she said. “They do not support light rail either.”

Quiring has a bachelor’s degree in management of human resources from George Fox University, in Newberg, Oregon.

Her community involvement has included serving on the boards of the Pregnancy Resource Centers of Greater Portland, Metro Policy Chaplaincy, Portland Rescue Mission and Capitol Ministries of Oregon.