Mayoral Candidates

Elections 09 begin the first week of June with filing due. New media will play a more significant role in the election process in 2009

Sean Guard for Mayor

Guard, 46, has lived in the Washougal-Camas area most of his life, graduating from Washougal High School in 1980.  He is a former city council member in both Washougal and Camas and is a past president of the Camas-Washougal Chamber of Commerce.  He currently owns Events Northwest, Inc. and Metropolitan Productions, Inc. in Washougal.  He is married and has three grown children and two grandsons.

In addition to having business and property interests in the area, Sean is also a 22-year member of the Lions Club and also served two terms on the Washougal Planning Commission and was a member of the Camas Parks Bond committee.  He served for two years as a C-Tran Director representing Washougal and Camas and was appointed to the County Jail Siting Committee.   He was a Reserve Camas Police Officer for nearly five years and his family is involved in numerous local service programs raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for others in need.

Guard lists eight main objectives in his campaign:

More open government, avoiding controversies and bad decisions such as the decision to terminate the existing voter approved EMS contract (this decision was later reversed after pressure from the public).

Making sure that city budgets are reflective of current economic conditions.  No new taxes, fees or levies on the citizens and businesses except as an absolute last resort or unless approved by voters for specific needs.

Fostering cooperation with the Port of Camas-Washougal and the City of Camas to help attract new businesses and jobs to the East County area and creating written policies to support local businesses with City purchases whenever possible.

Working with Port commissioners to potentially sell some Port properties so those properties will create new taxes for the local schools and city.

Repairing relations and service agreements with East County Fire & Rescue so that all residents in the East County get the quickest possible response for fire and medical emergencies.

Working with property owners and the public to create a master plan of large tracts of land in the city and making sure those areas are properly zoned for future economic growth.

Stability of city staff after the departure of numerous city department heads in the last three years.

Working with community groups to partner with the City in organizing and running city events rather than spending city funds to organize them.

“I am filing now, well ahead of filing week, so that people understand how serious I am about helping the City of Washougal return to working on behalf of the citizens.  There have been too many poor decisions made by the administration in the last three years and long-standing relationships that have worked to the City’s benefit have been badly damaged.

Now is the time for cooperation, not competition.  It is time for Washougal to work with the Port, Camas and ECFR toward common goals for the good of all who live and work in the area,” Guard said.  “I have watched over the last few years as the cities appear to be working against each other rather than with each other.  We are most certainly two different cities, but we are one larger community.  If elected, I pledge to bring a relationship of cooperation so we can all work together to attract more business and jobs to the area and make a better place for all of our citizens.

One specific item I would like to see is both cities, the Port and the Chamber discuss funding a joint economic development staff person to work on behalf of ALL of East County, marketing not only the potential undeveloped sites, but also the existing vacant spaces in both towns and the port properties.  This one position, if the right individual is hired, can make a huge difference in the vacancies that we have in our larger community.

I love this community.  My family has been here for generations and I have raised our children and now our grandchildren here.  It is wonderful to walk down our streets and shop in our stores and have conversations with your neighbors.  We need to get back to the fundamental goodness of what created this community so we can leave those same experiences to our children and their children.  It is time for the healing to start.”

June 1, 2009

In this writing, the first of many that I intend to write, I want to give you more information about some issues that I feel are the most important to our citizens; Budgets & Taxes, Economic Development / Tourism and Open Government.

I encourage you to read my positions on these issues.  Should you wish to comment on them, certainly feel free to contact me.  I certainly believe that collaborative government is one that is willing to listen to all and make the best decision possible for the community.

BUDGETS & TAXES

Obviously we are in an economic downturn, the likes of which have not been seen in 50 years or more, not to mention the great depression.  At a time when there are more public programs in every community than ever before and more people depending on them, we have less and less funds to pay for everything.  Somewhere we need to either 1) cut programs to meet revenue, 2) ask our citizens and/or businesses to pay more for certain programs, or 3) a combination of numbers 1 & 2.

I am not prepared to say that the City of Washougal cannot find ways to fund our essential services, PLUS some additional programs, solely on existing or lower revenues.  It is a simple matter of priorities.  I think we can do it without increasing any taxes, fees, etc. as long as the mayor and council have been doing their job in proper budgeting. That is the major question in my mind.  If Washougal has the funds to pay-off department heads to leave the city, has funds to pay the expenses of big festivals downtown and Mayor’s Ball without getting the revenue from them and has the funds to pay a downtown program that should be working on revitalization, something tells me there are probably a large number of programs that are paid out currently that can be put towards core services.

Core services.  Police, fire, water/sewer and streets.  Those are the original core services that all communities paid their taxes for.  They are the basics.  The City of Washougal is also well placed to have our own building and planning department.  These are the absolute core services that every citizen expects.  It is also wonderful that we have a parks program, efforts at downtown development, etc., but these are not “essential” services.  They certainly make our community better for all of us, but they are not “core services”.

Now, I do not propose eliminating parks and so on, but I do want to see what all of the revenues are that the city collects from different areas and then budget those funds in a responsible way that spends them on reasonable core services and then spends them in a priority method while still maintaining an adequate reserve in case of emergencies.  There should be little doubt that the revenues will run out before the programs do, but that is when elected officials and staff need to make the same decisions we all do at home or in our business.  We prioritize and we do without some things.

In regard to some of the “non core services”, I believe we can also positively engage volunteers and service groups to help in efforts, especially right now during this recession when 1) we need the help and 2) people are more willing to help do their part.  What a great win-win for all of us!

I do not advocate additional fees or taxes of any kind, especially in this economy when so many are doing without and so many are hurting.  This includes impact fees on new development.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT / TOURISM

There are so many things that we can be doing in these two areas to bring more business, money, taxes and tourism travel through our community, I often wonder where to start……

Economic Development. If the entire East County doesn’t get together working on economic development, we will continue to play second, third and fourth fiddle to all other areas in Southwest Washington.

Washougal has shown its unwillingness in the last three years to sit down with Camas and forge a strong business partnership.  I understand that the city is maintaining a relationship with the Port, which is good, but it needs to be more.  The City Administrator, Nabiel Shawa, is an endless cheerleader and a phenomenal advocate for the city, but he also has many other items on his plate.

Washougal has large tracts of property that are available for a number of uses throughout the city, including along E Street, B Street and in other areas.  There are also many vacant buildings throughout the city.

Camas and the Port are in much the same position, just in different places.

When elected, one of my first acts will be to sit down at one table with the Washougal city administrator, the mayor of Camas and their administrator and the executive director and commission chairman of the Port to start immediate discussions on how we can jointly market available land and buildings in the East County.  I may even ask the Chamber to participate.  I can see a process where there is one shared “staff” that jointly markets and sells businesses on coming to East County.  One experienced and dedicated staff (one, two, three-person staff?) who has an accurate listing of all areas available (sizes, costs, zoning, etc.) can be a vast improvement over all jurisdictions rowing just their own boat.  The costs can be split 30% / 30% / 30% between the three entities, possibly with the Chamber joining in with the last 10%.  Truly a partnership for all that is overseen and evaluated by all.

This all happens right now among some businesses, cities and the county.  It is known as the Columbia River Economic Development Council (CREDC).  I believe we (East County) can do as well and better banging our own drum.

The answer is NOT to refuse to send our membership check to the Chamber or tell Camas to go away; it is to do better together.  Cooperation, not competition.

Shop Local.  I also want to see, in writing, a city policy that requires that all city purchases happen in town or through local business owners whenever prudent.  Obviously there are some items that may not be able to go through such a system, but there are likely thousands of purchases each year that can, should and must.  If a council member needs to take a lunch with someone, make sure and do it at a restaurant in town.  Need paint, oil, tools, etc?  True Value or Bi-Mart.  Wood for tables in the parks?  Hambleton, Exterior Wood or another local manufacturer.  So many purchases.

Let’s take some of those funds that are spent on a mayor’s party every year and have a local sign business make some door signs that say PULL for Washougal, Shop Local on one side and PUSH for Washougal, Shop Local on the other side and GIVE them to every business in town for EVERY door that a shopper or client goes through.

Tourism.  We have a new, almost-waterfront hotel.  We have a new waterfront state park that was built for camping, RV and day-use.  We have the entire Washougal River watershed.  We have the famed Pendleton Woolen Mills.  A museum.  A marina with public docks and ramps.  In short, we have at the very least the start of a GREAT tourism package.

Again, we must work others, including the state and local tourism boards to publicize our areas, with our tourism businesses to help stretch those publicity dollars and with our county counterparts to improve our parks.  We CANNOT however, wait for them to take the lead.  We have to toot our own horn and we have to work on behalf of ourselves.  In 2005 there was an amazing amount of money spent on the grand-opening of Capt. William Clark Park, but then it was many, many months before the next phases of the park were completed and it really opened.  No matter where the blame lay, the park is in the City of Washougal and the city is the one who was losing in not having those tourists coming into town and spending their money here.

I believe we also must keep looking down the road to new opportunities and when we do, we should think large.  What would be wrong with a 50,000 square foot Smithsonian ~ Washington State located right in Washougal, the first community in the State?  Set it up as an affiliate museum (the chairwoman of the Smithsonian lives in Washington State) with four or six month traveling exhibits to keep it fresh and work with the local tourism board, the County, State and Federal governments to help make it a reality.  History, economic development and tourism all wrapped up in one building.  Pretty neat.  Expensive, yes.  But you don’t make wishes come true without first having the wish.

I recently had an opportunity to take my grandsons to the new water park and hotel up I-5.  What a great tourist draw for that whole area!  While the same concept may not work in Washougal because we are so close to a metropolitan area, what about a similar facility that has a truly great water park, but forgoes the hotel.  You can still have the restaurants, the gift shops and the arcades, all the parts that work well for family fun.  And what if it could be an indoor facility in the winter and outdoor in the summer?  Pretty neat.  Expensive, yes……..

The only way we can continually help plan economic development and tourism projects with private developers is through continually talking with our community and our private partners to bring them about.  Not with public dollars, but we can do our part and be a good partner in making sure that the streets and utilities are available.  We can also make sure that our planning and development departments are able to respond in a timely and predictable fashion.

OPEN GOVERNMENT.  Open government.  Transparency.   What does it really mean?  Easy answer.

Let’s try just good, honest government.  Government that meets at times that are convenient to the citizens so they can hear deliberations.  Government that meets in open session and meets only in executive session on rare, qualified occasions.  Government that widely publicizes potentially controversial issues in advance to generate healthy debate, not after decisions have been made.

Let’s face it.  We have citizen governments and legislatures for a reason.  “Government of the people and by the people” (Lincoln).  Our form of government was designed to have elected officials but to have elected officials who talk to, and listen to, all sides of an issue, not just what they are handed.  Debate, and yes, sometimes dissension, are healthy to making good decisions.

When elected, I pledge to do everything I can to make sure that agendas and meeting topics are as complete and self-explanatory as possible and published as far in advance as possible. Unless bound by executive session or a legitimate confidentiality need, I pledge to NOT keep things “close to our vest”.

This is Washougal.  It would have to be an awfully rare emergency to need to make an immediate decision and to not delay a vote now and then so that further discussion could happen.  As a matter of fact, I was asked twice by the City this last year to postpone the public meeting on the EMS issue, a request that I agreed to as it was leading to a better decision being made in the end.

PORT OF CAMAS-WASHOUGAL

Obviously it would be beneficial to both the Port and the City of Washougal to have a strong working relationship when it comes to recruiting new businesses to the area and in zoning properties correctly to encourage the kinds of business we want to attract.  It is also important for the two entities to also work together on making sure adequate plans are in place for future infrastructure needs such as roads, water & sewer, etc.

Just as important however, are discussions between the Port and the City regarding the Port’s future stance on owning properties and relying on lease-hold revenue that generates very little tax revenue for the schools and city, or if the Port should / would start leaning towards selling some properties so that those sales can fuel future land acquisitions by the Port and so the properties will go onto the public tax roles and generate much needed addition tax revenue without any increases to the general populace.

What is the future of the Port in 10 or 20 years?  Will they expand out of their existing land area?  Is there a new high-tech Prune Hill in the area?  Maybe on top of Mt. Norway, or possibly out towards the county line (some possible challenges there with the Columbia Gorge Scenic Area) ?

I would also love to entertain discussions with the port to see if there are any possible service consolidations that the two can partner on.  Perhaps dealing with parks or other common areas of services or operations?  In today’s economy, I don’t think we can ever stop looking at ways that we can do things better for our citizens and at the same time not be duplicating efforts and expensive personnel.

The Port is a huge landowner inside the City of Washougal.  As a separate taxing government, we have to find ways to always be working together and selling Washougal and East County as the most viable place for businesses to locate.  Perhaps with the new executive director and some new commissioners, 2010 could be an uplifting year for the city and the Port both in how we do business and how we do business TOGETHER !

EAST COUNTY FIRE & RESCUE

While it hasn’t always been front page news, the working relationships between the City of Washougal and ECFR have been completely eliminated.  As one ECFR official puts it, “There is NO relationship with the City of Washougal.”(their emphasis).

This situation is particularly unfortunate to any city residents or visitors to our area should they have a fire or medical emergency near an ECFR station, but still in the city.  In effect, rather than ECFR being able to also respond and get there much quicker than Washougal responding from the downtown station, the ECFR units hear the calls go out and have to sit in their station waiting for the Washougal units to roll by.  Sometimes this has taken 5-7 minutes out at the 39^th Street Station.  With a mutual aid agreement in place and a willingness to work together, that emergency call could have been jointly handled and the ECFR unit could have arrived at the scene five, six or seven minutes sooner.  As you know, those precious moments can mean life or death on a medical emergency, and those few minutes can make a huge difference on whether a fire is put out quickly or if it has time to completely engulf a building.

Make no mistake about my position on fire, EMS or police calls.  If there is an emergency, I want to see the CLOSEST appropriately trained personnel responding to it in an effort to save lives and property, period.  No turf wars, no squabbles. When it comes to public safety, there should be nothing short of complete cooperation between all governments, and Washougal needs to get back in the ball game and both supporting AND asking for support of those around us.

I also want to see the City of Washougal once again attending the consolidation meetings that are taking place between ECFR and Camas Fire.  Washougal did attend until 2006 when they abruptly announced at a meeting that they would no longer be attending the meetings.  It should be pointed out that while these were called “consolidation” meetings, really they were were all three departments sitting and discussing ways that they could share services and resources and provide better services more efficiently.  Isn’t that what we should be doing?  Shouldn’t we be emphasizing efficiency?  While the talks may never get to the point of an actual consolidation, why would we be afraid to look at all options to provide emergency services to our residents.

Again, I want to see Washougal back in the meetings as a player and a willing participant.  There are so many ways that we can each benefit each other, especially in the areas of equipment and training.  Both Washougal and ECFR have some excellent volunteer fire fighters who serve our citizens in addition to the full-time personnel.  Let’s make sure that we are doing everything we can to make them successful every time they go out on a call.

MASTER PLANNING OF LARGE TRACTS OF LAND

Coming into 2010 there are still large, prime tracts of land available for development close-in in Washougal.  Surprisingly, there are even some very attractive large lots along E Street that have never in-filled.

Starting in 2010, I want to see zoning maps updated to reflect changes in the community and I want to see discussions with private property owners to start preparing a comprehensive plan of how we can help facilitate business and commercial growth throughout the community and start creating new jobs.

We have such a wonderful opportunity, if we take advantage of it, to start planning for the future in a focused, directed way.  We have the ability to do a business and services inventory of what is already in our city and to identify elements of commerce or manufacturing that we are lacking but may be positioned for.  Once we have those two pieces of critical information we can start moving forward to chart our future and begin identifying sources of funds for needed infrastructure.

CITY COMPREHENSIVE PLAN

According to the City’s own website, the Comprehensive Plan for the city was last updated in February of 2003, over six years ago.  Obviously as one of the most important documents that the City is required keep on file and keep updated, this is way too outdated.  I will push for the Comp Plan to be completely updated to current information by mid-2010.

WORKING WITH COMMUNITY GROUPS

This is an issue that comes deep from my heart.  Our family has worked to do our part as responsible citizens for generations in the Washougal area.  Whether it was through being on the school board, being little league coaches, city council representatives, school levy committee-people or just doing our part to help raise funds for needed programs and projects.  I feel that community service is every citizens chance to give back to their community.

It goes beyond that, however.  Community service fosters pride in one’s community while helping others.  It brings people together that may not otherwise know each other.  It helps to “create” the essence OF “community.”  It helps to make Washougal what it is and a lot of that service continues on outside our own community to the larger world.

For years volunteer community groups helped the community by organizing and running events such as Rushing Water Days, the annual fireworks / 4^th of July celebration and the Christmas tree lighting downtown.  Hundreds of volunteers, as well as fraternal groups such as The Eagles, took on the Lion’s share of these events to help make our community a better place.

Three years ago, that all changed.  The events noted above where taken from those volunteers by the mayor and were the basis of creating a new staff position.  Not a staff position with the city, but one that the city funded with an annual cash contribution of $75,000.

I believe this was just another of a long string of bad decisions by the current administration, and one that was handled badly from the start.  Little or no communication with the community or volunteers involved, heavy-handedness in the way it was handled and a complete waste of taxpayer money to continue celebrations that were completely self-funded and handled by volunteers.  Frankly, I don’t believe the events are even being done BETTER than they were.  The Eagles and other volunteers did a fine job in my estimation, especially for a home-town, community event.

I believe that we need to re-engage those dedicated volunteers and service groups, along with many of the new residents to our community, and bring the volunteer pride back to Washougal.  We don’t need to pay tens of thousands of dollars, hundreds of thousands of dollars in the last three years, to throw parties.  We can utilize our willing and ready volunteers for the events and use that money to complete sidewalks where they don’t exist, we can repair streets, we can spend $1,000 of it a year to water and fertilize the rose bushes in front of city hall instead of auctioning them off because we cannot afford them.

Volunteers and service groups can also assist the city in closing the gap in some other areas in our community.  Park upgrades.  Volunteer clean-up days.  Capital campaigns for specific projects.  Look at the Camas swimming pool that was constructed in the 50’s and is still in use today.  Entire community fundraising drive to build it was spearheaded by the Lions Club, not the city.

Volunteers.  Community service.  Service organizations.  Personally, I would do a fund drive of my own annually to host a summer BBQ to salute and thank those in our community who help to make it a richer community for all of us.

E STREET PROJECT

As most of you know, this project has been underway, planned, discussed and revised over the last few years.  The project spans at least 2 administrations of mayors, but goes back long before that.

The original upgrade of E Street was projected to cost approximately $2 million total, of which some would have been paid through grants to the city.

The project as it currently is proposed is approximately $8.6 million as last count, and of that the citizens of Washougal will be paying $3.95 million or more.  This includes all of the flowers and trees that would be planted, taking E Street from four travel lanes down to only two lanes and constructing a large “round-about” at 17^th (now Washougal River Road) and E Street.  Please note that the cost to the citizens could go much higher.  The grants being used are finite; they only cover a certain portion of the cost.  All funds needed over and above are the responsibility of the City of Washougal.  So far the City has said these funds will likely come from the General Fund, the same fund that pays for police and fire.

I think a majority of citizens would agree that E Street could use some upgrades.  As the main arterial in the city (not counting Hwy. 14), it is one of the most underutilized streets in the city in terms of using it for what it should ultimately be used for, commercial businesses.  That is not to say buy up all of the existing homes along E Street and mow them down to create commercial space, but there is no doubt that with the traffic patterns and the nature of the street, it is mainly a commercial street, not a residential street.

I would like to see the city leave the four lanes as they are, do some work on connecting all of the sidewalks and doing sidewalk upgrades where needed and work with property owners to clean-up vacant lots and remove old, unused buildings that are not worth reclaiming.   Then the properties can be marketed appropriately (see comments on community beautification below).

I seriously question that E Street needs an expense, large round-about to move traffic faster and safer.  I believe that by studying the traffic patterns and getting accurate, up-to-date traffic counts and times (I am sure the city already has these from their studies), the city can adjust the traffic signal at Washougal River Road & E Street so that traffic is allowed to flow better.  Right now to have each direction of traffic wait their turn without allowing any other movement besides right-hand turns seems a waste of traffic flow.  Such a change in the signaling would likely cost very little.

Can you imagine all of the road construction that is going to happen with this project and how long the streets will be torn-up?  I hope that the city is having a lot of meetings with the business owners along E Street and is using some money to bring in experts to help the businesses learn how to weather this project.  I remember how businesses struggled to hold on during the downtown street construction project and how things kept getting delayed.  I pray that no businesses will be lost due to this project.

I also wonder if the city has adequately computed and figured what they may have to pay for any private property or loss of businesses that this project may impact.  The courts have been very strict in upholding “takings” suits on behalf of property / business owners.  Has the city added up what these potential costs are, and if so, are they in the $4 million we will be paying?  That round-about alone is going to take out at least one building, possibly two.  It may also require business signs to be moved.  Who will pay for all of that?  Hopefully those business owners won’t have to absorb such tremendous costs.

On the other hand, the traffic at 32^nd & E Street, 39^th & E Street and E Street as it stretches out towards Jemtegaard School do need some serious attention.  For the amount of traffic these areas carry now and what it will increase to, the city seems way behind the planning for these areas.  I would rather see a detailed plan of safely moving traffic through these intersections and seeing what those costs are before we start building round-abouts in places that don’t need them, planting trees and flowers in roadways and other items that will not “help” the traffic.

Also, do we “need” to encourage bicycle traffic on such a heavily used corridor, or are bikes better suited for the collector streets that run parallel to E Street?  This is not to discriminate against bicyclists, but rather to encourage them to use safer, more conducive streets than the busiest street in the city.

The City of Washougal can use $4,000,000 in many other ways than this project. I also wonder why the city has not applied for federal stimulus dollars to take the burden of $4 million off your back for the E Street project itself?  Another example of poor planning.  The city needs a leader who can work with the city staff to do a better job on projects like this on behalf of the citizens.

SIDEWALKS

Have you ever walked, biked or driven around the city and taken notice of how many streets in the city have NO sidewalks at all, let alone curbs and gutters?  The number of miles of streets, even if you only count one side, is staggering.

CDBG grant funds and neighborhood improvement funds are constantly available for these types of upgrades within the city.  I know the city has had some success in getting these grants in the past, but I believe that a heavy emphasis needs to be placed on identifying areas that are most in need of these improvements for pedestrian safety and protecting properties during heavy rains.

These improvements also tend to have a positive impact on the properties that abut them.  People take care of their properties more, values rise and the whole look and feel of neighborhoods can change when such improvements are made.

I would like to see the city get more heavily involved in planning for these projects and applying for funds to help make them a reality.  Right now your federal tax dollars are being given out all over America for “shovel-ready” projects to help keep people in jobs and to hopefully put some people back to work.  Why has the city not done this planning and been in a position to forward dozens of projects to those on a federal level for consideration?

COMMUNITY BEAUTIFICATION

In traveling about any community, Washougal included, you can spot vacant lots that have not been taken care of, seemingly abandoned properties and some parcels where the owners just are not in a position, physically or financially, to take care of their property.

I believe that we as a community need to find ways to reduce the number of properties that end up in this condition.  I believe that there are ways, as a city, that we can appropriately assist these property owners and at the same time have our community looking much better.

I have no problem working with the city council, staff and legal counsel to craft language that will allow the city some means of having property owners take care of their properties, at least what is visible from the street.  Many cities have been successful in creating and revising junk laws.  In the case where the property owners just don’t care, the city should be able to do or have the work done and in turn lien the property for the costs.  When the properties are sold or any refinancing of the properties is done, the city is paid back those funds.

I would even go so far as to say I would look for ways to legally create a revolving fund within the city to do this work.  It is possible that the city could create an offender program ( or partner with Camas who already has such a program ) to allow court fines and jail time to be worked off doing such work.  A win-win for all.

For those in our community who are truly not in a position to do the work or have it done, I would encourage our youth programs, service clubs and community volunteers to take these opportunities on.  I bet we would all be surprised at how many people might show up for a 2-3 hour organized work party once a month.  Working in teams they could cover a lot of area in the city.

I would also like to encourage some neighborhood and downtown clean-up programs and possibly even some awards for those who take the time and effort to go above and beyond.  While not wanting to look like I am borrowing an idea from our friends to the West, Vancouver’s Sparkle program seems to work very well and encourages pride of neighborhoods within the community.

There are so many ways that we can encourage beautification projects within the city.  It just needs people to sit down and constructively discuss what it would look like and how it could function.  Can we encourage a “flower & shrub festival” in the early spring every year so that vendors of plants can be right downtown helping to educate and sell the proper plants to residents?

I look forward to a bright and colorful future for Washougal!

June 17, 2009

Crime  In  Washougal

As in any small town, you always hope that all people are responsible citizens and that the local police force is busy only in relation to doing visibility patrols of the community and walking the streets at night making sure shop owners have locked up.

In reality, however, we know that our police department is busy with many other tasks not quite so reminiscent of Andy Taylor’s Mayberry.  In fact, our police officers have been very busy in the last year alone.

Statistics from the Washington Association of Sheriff’s and Police Chief’s (WASPC) show that in 2008 minor property crimes in Washougal dropped slightly from 2007, but serious violent crime rose by 94.4%. It skyrocketed to nearly double in only one year.

The fact is that Washougal has gone through immense growth in the last few years fueled by the housing market.  We have grown the number of residents and homes in record numbers, but the business and commercial base has not kept pace with housing.  Business / commercial / industrial taxes are what allow a city to add police officers and firefighters as those uses of property are not a drain on city services.  The more homes you have, the more calls for police / fire / EMS.  The taxes generated by the commercial / industrial base and the relatively small number of calls to those businesses is what helps you to offset the residential call volume.

We are also influenced by our proximity to Vancouver and Portland.  Being as close as we are to a metropolitan area, with a decent highway system tying us together, makes it all that much easier for bad elements in the greater area to prey on people, home and businesses in outlaying areas.

With these types of statistics, it is obvious that more needs to be done in regard to the police services in Washougal.

How would Sean Guard handle policing in Washougal?  The same as I would in every other department in the city.  I would allow the police chief to manage his department and I would make it incumbent on them to work with me on identifying the needs of that department so they have the tools and resources to get their jobs done and get the crime rates lowered in the city.

I would look at new cooperative efforts with Camas to curb illegal drug activity.  I want to know that we are putting a significant effort to eradicating any illegal drug activities.  Statistics show that this (with a close second being the new economy) is the number one factor behind most violent and property crimes.  Without adequately combating the main source of the crimes, we are trying to bail out the boat without first plugging the hole.  The education of our youth about the bad and illegal side of drugs can also help and I know there used to be significant contributions annually by service groups to help in bringing programs to the schools.  Where have those programs gone?

I would encourage innovative programs developed inside the department and the community or borrowed from other successful programs.  I would look at cities of Washougal’s size and geographic location to other communities and see where their statistics are and I would immediately start looking at what those cities are doing within their police department to control crime.

I would work with the Port and other property owners to successfully encourage business development in the Port and other locations in the city so we have additional tax dollars to put more police officers on the streets.

I would also encourage the chief to look at programs like Clark College’s Criminal Justice program and others in the local area and see if we could “hire” an intern or graduate to coordinate volunteer and community programs like this so we aren’t taking an officer off the street.  There are so many innovations in police work today; you just have to have the mind-set from the top down that you are going to allow your officers to do their jobs.

In short, I would allow the police department to do their jobs, free of micro-management, and I would hold them accountable for getting their jobs done successfully.  I would look for the department to put a major emphasis on neighborhood watch programs, business watch programs and Safe Home programs for our school age children.

No matter what, we need to bring the crime rate down in every category and our police department needs to have a mayor that they know is committed to giving them the tools to do their jobs.  Just like fire fighters, these officers put their lives on the line everyday to protect us all, let’s help them do their jobs and go home safe to their families every night.

Offender Work Crews

One program that Washougal does not utilize often is the offender work crew program that allows minor offenders to work off their jail time or fines by doing supervised community service in our city, i.e.  Litter patrol, maintenance of city parks, clearing of brush, etc.

Washougal has the ability, through a shared offender program with Camas, to use these services.  In the past few years, however, they have used the crew very little even though Washougal offenders make up part of the crew.  Currently they are used primarily for Camas and Port projects.

I am a proponent of programs like this, when they can be done effectively, to help get needed tasks done around the community to help it look better.   It also helps cut down on the costs to the city to complete the same services with additional staff or contractors who come at a much greater expense.  In addition, the city saves the money it would have paid to have the offender locked up in jail.

I believe that there are many areas in our city that don’t get the attention that they deserve just due to the constraints of manpower and money.  I firmly believe that this is one area where we can take minor offenders OUT of the county jail and put them to work for the betterment of the whole community.

Dog Gone Day

Many of our residents likely do not realize that any dog older than six months, must be licensed, including “indoor” dogs.

The Washougal Police Department, through a joint program with Camas, administers an animal control program.  Revenue from pet licensing fees help to operate that program.

One of the benefits of licensing your pet is that should it become lost and is located by the animal control team, it you should be reunited with your pet.  We have two small indoor dogs, meaning that live inside the majority of the time.  However, should they ever get out, we would want to find them or get them back, fast!

I would advocate an additional benefit for Washougal residents.  If your pet is found by animal control, and is able to be reunited with you that same day, there should be no cost to the resident for that service.  If the animal is simply picked up by animal control, and through license records they can track down the owner that day and reunite everyone, no fee.  If the owners cannot be located and the pet needs to be taken into the shelter for the night or additional days, then there would be fees for boarding the animal.

How to encourage licensing so as many dogs as possible are licensed?  How about a joint program, once or twice a year where the West Columbia Gorge Humane Society and animal control do a one-day event for dogs in a city park?  You can bring your pets down, get them licensed, update addresses on previous licenses, have some pet-related vendors and maybe some contests.  Make it a fun day in the community and as a result, get more pets licensed so they can be reunited sooner if lost and also maybe create some additional operating funds for both animal control and the humane society.

These kinds of events are high on value and fun and can be very low in cost to produce.  I would be willing to bet we may even have a service club or school club that might take it on as a project.  Take something that is “required” and encourage more compliance and piece of mind by making it fun.

Bike & Skate Board ID Programs

I remember a number of years back when I was a kid and had my “chopper” bike.  One day I rode it down to the Sheriff’s precinct in Washougal and Deputy Stillman (Washougal resident) helped me engrave my name and phone number on the bike.  How proud I was that if someone stole my bike, I just might get it back.

I would love to see our police department, in cooperation with the schools, promote an event where kids could be hands on engraving their ID information onto their bikes, skateboards, etc.  Maybe at the same event kids could also be photographed and fingerprinted and a child’s ID packet can be handed right to the parents in case, heaven forbid, anything should ever happen to their child.

Again, just like with the pet licenses, take something that could be helpful in different circumstances and create a small event to make it fun and help facilitate more awareness and more probability of a successful resolution to a bad situation.

I hope you found this information helpful.  I can be contacted with any comments or questions at  seanguard@comcast.net or 360-834-2533.

Sean Guard for Mayor

June 23, 2009

Parks & Recreation

The City of Washougal has some excellent parks and trails, some owned by the city and some close or in the city that are managed by many other entities.

In 2005 there was a new comprehensive parks & recreation plan put together.  It is a 57-page document that has a lot of great information, recommendations and plans for moving Washougal into more of a parks and recreation type of community, rather than a community that has some parks.  To date, I don’t know that much has been done with the plan even though steps have been laid out and costs estimated.

Some of the biggest parts of the future plans include improving the amenities in existing parks, tying some of the parks / trails together, providing for volunteer activities, creating an off-leash dog park and looking to partner with Camas on parks and recreation programs / departments.

It was interesting to see the overwhelming support for a partnership with Camas, which I think is a great idea.  Of the survey respondents, 85% were in favor of partnering with the City of Camas.  I would take it at least a step farther and look at partnering with Camas as well as the Port.  There were some great discussions a while back on possibly creating a Metropolitan Parks District involving Washougal, Camas, the Port and Clark County.  It lost some steam and was shelved when the current City of Washougal administration pulled out of the discussions.

I would be all for starting those meetings again immediately and working to see how the whole parks and recreation “world” in East Clark County could be improved to provide a better continuity of programs in all of east county and how all of the groups can participate in improving our park offerings while at the same time making it all more cost effective.  One thing I would work to make sure that is included is that any tax rate changes to create or support such a system would need to go to the voters.  I would not be in favor of a parks district that could raise tax rates without a vote.

I also appreciate the need for an off-leash dog park in the local area.  I have seen numerous examples of these in the metro area and they all seem to have one thing in common – they are very, very popular.  Right now there are some large expanses of space out in the industrial park that might make an ideal fenced, off-leash area.  Not near residents, lots of open space, easy to fence with double gate areas and still close-in and easy to get to.  What a win-win for everyone with likely very little expense to create and open.  There are also some vast areas under the BPA power lines that have made great off-lease areas in some communities that don’t take up valuable land that can be used in other ways.

I would also love to see more opportunities for volunteer groups, scout projects and other similar programs to help stretch our city park development funds.  Have the community identify new parks areas with the city purchasing the land.  Involve the community / neighborhoods in “designing” the park and involve volunteer groups, service clubs, etc. in building or planting portions of it, using city funds to complete the parks.

Likewise on projects inside existing parks.  There are a lot of very successful “adopt-a-park” programs in communities that have significantly helped cities stretch there funds much farther and also created much more community pride in the parks.  A wonderful, recent and local example of this is the new Steigerwald National Wildlife Refuge.  What a great example of work by many different public agencies and a very dedicated and successful volunteer organization.

I believe we can also do a much better job of planning for the future by identifying new areas for parks, but also riverfront access on both the Columbia and Washougal Rivers, as well as a comprehensive trail system that helps tie all of these areas together.  Not only will they be attractive to users of the trails and parks, they will help our community stay attractive by maintaining greenways and natural areas.

The funds are already available.  The city has a fund of park improvement funds and the city charges a parks impact fee on new home construction as well as Real Estate Excise Taxes (REET) on the sale of homes in the city.  By law, these park related fees can only be used for parks, not for any other use in the city.  Further, they generally have to be spent within a 6-year timeframe from when they were collected or be paid back to the developer.

The City of Washougal has certainly grown in the last few years and most of the housing growth has been more upper end homes.  By their very nature they are usually occupied by a demographic of people who enjoy the amenities of a good parks and recreation program.  Now is the time for us to dust off that comprehensive parks plan and start finding ways to use it to move from a parks program to a parks and recreation program.

Continuing  Downtown  Improvements

The improvements that were started in the downtown core in 2001 are a great start to helping to revitalize Washougal’s traditional downtown.  Now, we really need to be extend to the other streets of downtown in an effort to help property owners upgrade and possibly re-purpose their properties.

Starting in 2002 the City allocated $75,000 a year for physical improvements to downtown and also developed the concept of Reflection Park, making better use of a lot that was formerly occupied by an old service station.  New light poles were installed, sidewalk benches, plantings, etc.

In 2006, that same $75,000 per year was diverted and given to a local non-profit (DRIC) to run events in the community and to do economic development.  I have been working to try and get records of what DRIC was able to do with the funds, what the return on the events they ran was and also what jobs and businesses they were able to provide with the funds.  So far I have received some confusing projected budgets for prior years, as well as some notes of how much the Farmer’s market has lost in the last three years and how much revenue was brought in from the 2008 Washougal Fest event for the Centennial.  I have asked for some clarifying information, but have been told by DRIC’s executive director that the information is confidential.

As you can tell from my earlier writings, I am all for economic development in the city and the whole east County, but feel that it needs to be undertaken by people who are qualified to do the work.  I am also all in favor of community events but would rather not see the city spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to put them on.

What I would like to see is more continuity downtown and an effort to complete what has already been started.  If you come in from Washougal River Road (15^th Street), you see a nicely rebuilt Main Street (B Street) for three blocks.  Other than some minor plantings and some street lights, the improvements pretty much stop there.  You cannot start improvements like that and leave out the other blocks that also make up your downtown. Those property and business owners also have a huge stake in the vitality of downtown and if Washougal is to attract some additional businesses, the groundwork needs to be in place.

Restaurants

If you are like many people in town, you are waiting for a couple of new restaurant options to help compliment the variety of restaurants that we have now.  Surveys and informal polls that have been done over the years have consistently underscored the public’s desire for more restaurants.

As mayor, I would make landing additional restaurants a priority in our economic development efforts.  As the former general manager of a higher-end restaurant, I understand the challenges that face any restaurant operation.  I have been working for the last year to bring a restaurant to the area, but with the downturn of the economy and lending, we have not yet been able to make it a reality.

I believe that with the hopeful return of the economy and some of the lending stimulus dollars that may be available, as well as private investment, we will soon hear a couple of announcements on new restaurant options moving into Washougal.  Hopefully they will be different options than exist today and help add to the local flavor and economy.  I will work hard to help make these a reality.

Buying Local First

As I noted in an earlier issue, I want to see, in writing, a city policy that requires that all possible city purchases happen through local business owners whenever prudent.  Obviously there are some items that may not be able to go through such a system, but there are likely hundreds of purchases each year that can, should and must.  If a council member needs to take a lunch with someone, make sure and do it at a restaurant in town.  Need paint, oil, tools, etc?  True Value or Bi-Mart.  Wood for tables in the parks?  Washougal Lumber, Hambleton Brothers, Exterior Wood, All Weather or another local manufacturer.  So many purchases could stay in town and help local businesses.

Let’s take some of those funds that are spent on a mayor’s party every year and have a local sign business like Chrissy’s Signs make some door signs that say PULL for Washougal, Shop Local on one side and PUSH for Washougal, Shop Local on the other side and GIVE them to every business in town for EVERY door that a shopper or client goes through.

Let’s start our own local stimulus by educating residents on the positive economic effects of shopping locally first.  Let’s help our fellow businesses whenever we can.

I hope you found this information helpful.  I can be contacted with any comments or questions at  seanguard@comcast.net or 360-834-2533.

Additional Information on Parks

Dog Park

In the past two weeks, there has been a lot of information going around about a proposed off-leash dog park in the City of Washougal.

I believe that Washougal should have at least one such park.  I have seen them used and they are phenomenally successful.  I have no doubt that from the first day such a park would be the most used park in the city, bar none.

How the park is permitted and approved, where it is sited and how it is paid for are the questions that are still up in the air.  I will take the easiest parts first.

How is it paid for? There is already $46,000 in the city budget for a dog park.  It is being funded by the first ¼ of 1% REET funds (Real Estate Excise Tax) on properties sold in the city.  The funds already exist and have for three years.  It is refreshing to see that the current mayor has finally decided to do something with these funds after all of these years.  Even in these economic times, I think this is money well spent that has been set aside for just this use and that is restricted to very few allowable uses.

Where should it be located? In the best place possible for access, but at the least disturbance for neighbors and using land that has no other long-term possibilities.  The currently proposed Stevenson property is central and it would clean up a large section of land.  At the same time, it is prime commercial property and if developed down the road the dog park would need to be relocated.  This can be done, just not the most ideal situation.  Look at the BPA power line areas.  Look at corners of the industrial park that are away from the refuge.  Look at the area between Hwy. 14 and the dike immediately south of Pendleton.  All are areas that have grassy land, are level and that have parking.

What process should be used to approve this park?  The concept should go through the parks board, first and foremost.  Once they have done their work, their recommendation should go to council who can accept, reject or modify it.  No matter what, however, the parks board has the duty to deal with parks.

Before anyone asking for approval, the costs should also be closely identified.  What are the term and the cost of the lease?  What is the cost of the fencing and other materials needed?  Who will clear the land and what is that cost?  Basic questions, but ones that were not even answered for the council when they were informed that “the signed lease was mailed to us today”.  Bad process.

Had this been handled properly, I believe that we would already be making plans for the park and it could be fast-tracked.  As it is, the mayor decided, again, to try and circumvent the system and the council and now we are all seeing the results of it.

Bottom line, do it correctly as it should have been done from the start and get at least one dog park established in the city.

Marina Park & the Parkersville Historical Park

I believe that The Parkersville Historical Park should be maintained and continued to be upgraded with adequate signage and access so that it encourages additional appropriate uses of this park and helps educate people on the history of what started our community here on the Columbia River.

I agree that it is a gem of a park, but that there is more that we can do to help bring more people to it to enjoy it.

Likewise, I absolutely love Marina Park with its views of the river and the marina, but I also agree that it is one of the most underutilized public spaces in our community.  The concerts that the Port holds there twice a year are a good start to having more people use the area, but we must work with the port to do more.  This is a prime example of an area where our residents and visitors can stop, linger and enjoy.  We just need to find some ways to encourage more of it.

In regard to the boat trailer parking area adjacent to both of these areas, it is an ideal location in regard to the boat ramps themselves.  There is undoubtedly a lot we can do to the space to help it look better.  While I would hate to see the area asphalted, there are systems where you can install concrete block that is designed to allow for a firm driving / parking surface while also allowing grass to grow through it so it appears green and lets light and water through.  There surely is some additional landscaping that can be done to soften the view of the parking areas.

I see where we are starting to outgrow the parking areas, however.  I would encourage the Port to look at other close-by areas, including under the power lines along Hwy. 14.  The blackberry bushes can be removed and the area landscaped to allow for additional parking areas.  Low cost, close to the existing areas and it also cleans up a messy area.

Finally, I would encourage the port to work with the city to re-zone this 7-8 acres of land (two parks and trailer parking area) from highway commercial to waterfront park land so it ends this back and forth conversation.  Take the properties as they are and improve them so more people are aware of them and can enjoy them.

Neighborhood / Homeowner Associations

In the last few weeks since I announced my candidacy for Mayor of Washougal I have spoken to a number of groups of individuals and have been called, emailed and spoken to directly from people all throughout our community.

Many of these people are folks who have lived in Washougal their entire lives.  Some are new to our community, but their message has been consistent all throughout the conversations.  They love the community, they want to see it evolve and they would like to know more about what is happening in the city and how they can be more involved.

What a wonderful community when so many people can all be thinking the same direction!  Now, how to engage them and help them help and know the community better?

I was a bit disappointed when I requested and received a list from city hall of the neighbor and homeowner associations in the city.  There were only 10 associations listed on it and one is from the Bear Prairie area, well outside the city.  As many people are aware, as new neighborhoods and subdivisions were built in the past 15+ years, one of the normal things for the developers to do was to create associations who would take over many long-term items after the development was fully built-out.  The care for common areas, sensitive areas, contacts with the city, etc.

I have been involved in five homeowners associations and have sat on the boards for two of them.  They are a great tool for keeping neighborhoods healthy and involved, but they do take a bit of coordination.  In the past, our neighborhood associations have also been helpful in getting things done for the neighborhood when it came to issues with the city or county, schools, etc.  Association meetings can provide a perfect venue for information to flow both directions for the betterment of everyone.

For whatever reasons such associations have not been a priority of current or past city administrations.  I plan to change that.  I would like to invite all formally formed associations to become part of a new program. Call it Community Outreach Program for lack of any better term at this point.

I was at a recent city council workshop that was held in Lookout Ridge III.  Part of the agenda was to formally dedicate the Oak Tree Park, a beautiful park overlooking the city and both rivers that was developed through both the city and the neighborhood.  I was amazed to learn two things that evening.  First, the association presidents of the two Lookout Ridge neighborhoods were not invited to the event and did not even know it was happening, and, two, the park never ended up being dedicated that night!  How easy it would have been to invite the neighborhoods that were directly involved and both get a better turn-out but also have those residents, who partnered on the park, be a bit more involved.

For associations who are already formed and active, city hall would be able to utilize their power and numbers to both get information out about what is happening in the city, as well as projects or issues that may impact their particular neighborhood specifically.  The associations can also greatly help the city through feedback, suggestions and volunteer efforts.  I see this as a win-win for everyone and with today’s technology, the data-bases and communications should be able to happen with very little expense at all.

For areas of the city that currently have no associations, such as some of the older parts of town, I think the Community Development Department could easily create the boundaries of some natural neighborhood areas.  Once that is done it would be a pleasure to see that information publicized and have a series of meetings in those areas to identify what we are looking to do with the help of the associations and to engage people as the points of contact.

Programs like this can be so easy to institute if you are truly willing to reach out to people, ask them what they think and be prepared to accept their input.  How helpful would this have been during recent discussions of dog parks, E Street redesign, EMS / Fire issues, city budgets and the like?

Once elected, I will make neighborhood associations a priority in the City of Washougal and work to get more people involved in all of our processes.

In watching our city government for the last year, it appears there are many areas that can be improved for the betterment of the entire community.

Finances

As part of the research I am doing for my campaign, I have made a number of Requests for Public Records to get a feel for where dollars are being spent in some areas, to look at personal expenses by some of the city officials and also to get a better understanding of some of the programs that the city has undertaken.

The city has been very forthright in providing hundreds of pages of documentation, although much of the information in it raises even more questions in regard to the amount of money being spent on travel, meals (including many right here at home) and other expenses, many without any detail whatsoever.  On ones where there is detail, it is shocking to see the purchases of alcohol at meals on city credit cards, cash advances in casinos on city credit cards and much more.

On the other hand, some service providers to the city, such as DRIC (Downtown Revitalization & Implementation Committee) have not answered a number of questions regarding their financials even though a majority of their funding comes from the city, your tax dollars.  The city does not even seem to require an accounting of the finances on an annual basis.

These practices need to stop.  Even though they may be a drop in the bucket when compared to the entire city budget, a wise business man taught me years ago that if you watch the nickels and dimes, the quarters and dollars will follow.  It is ok for the city to fund programs, travel, etc., but I contend that there needs to be limits, rules, expectations and accountability to them all.

I believe that the information I am finding, or not finding, is the result of poor management.  Poor management of what the mayor called a $36 million budget.  Regardless of the size of any budget, it needs to be managed properly and accountability needs to start at the top.  It appears to me that there is no accountability at the top and that leads me to wonder what else is being mismanaged within the city and within the budgets, which are the city’s lifeblood.

Some examples from only a part of the mayor’s expense reports and visa bills so far in 2009 (not all of the bills / expenses have been located yet):

Hotels                           $6,191.

Meals                            $2,670.

Airplane Travel            $5,334.

Misc.                             $7,930.

Now, I will certainly admit that the mayor, council and staff will generate expenses.  But when you look at the actual documents, it is astounding how many have absolutely no detail as to what they were for, who was involved, etc.  Most of the meal receipts have no detail on them, including a meal of $327 for 3 people and a meal of $215 for two people. The city doesn’t allow alcohol to be paid for from city funds, but many of the receipts don’t have any detail, so how would you know?  Many do show alcohol, so it would be logical to assume that some that don’t show detail likely also have alcohol on them.  Hotels in Washington DC during the presidential inaugural? Multiple $900+ airline tickets?  Furniture, frames (from Washington D.C.?), hotel bills for $888 in D,C. without even the hotel name on them.  $1,200+ camera lenses?

I have looked at the brief information the mayor has on her campaign website.  Her first bullet point under the heading of Proven, Effective Leadership is “Fiscally Responsible Government”.  Mayor, if these types of out-of-control personal spending of taxpayer money, in this or ANY economy, is your idea of being fiscally responsible then you just have not been reading the papers, watching the news or even talking with neighbors and businesses in Washougal.  This kind of spending is simply wasteful and for your own benefit.

Now, to be fair, since I started making these public record requests, there are some expenses that are now starting to be reimbursed to the city, but only after I pushed the issue of them being inappropriate and against city guidelines. There are still many that have not been followed up on and many that have not been researched yet to see just what is on those receipts or what they were for.  Without a doubt, however, it appears that the mayor has learned to travel and eat very well at the expense of the taxpayers, and many of the meals are only with one former councilmember, now a department head.

As mayor I pledge to make sure that processes that are in place to safeguard the city’s money are followed, and if the safeguards are not tight enough, I will put additional ones in place that will stop unsubstantiated expenses and spending.  If it is happening today on the mayor’s expense reports, what is happening on other official’s expenses and other accounts payable that are being paid by the city?

I don’t need the taxpayers paying for lunches, expensive dinners, bottles of wine, $18 cocktails and my coffee in the morning.  I think I can take meetings at city hall and incur no cost for theses “sessions”.

I will bring accountability to city hall.

Decisions to be made in Public

As Mayor, I pledge to make sure that agenda items and issues that the City may be considering are publicized as well as possible and the issues will be discussed in open sessions whenever possible and the public will be invited to be part of that discussion.

No more keeping items under wraps as was done with the EMS issue, the hiring of key department heads or even the recent hasty discussions concerning a new dog park in town.  The Mayor has the ability, duty and responsibility to be sure that the council, public and media have been given ample notice of items coming before the city.  This duty should never be taken for granted or disregarded.  If there are decisions and actions that are worthy of being considered by the council, then they are worthy of being announced, discussed, debated and resolved.  Such decisions do not deserve being done while no one is watching.

Executive Session Issues

There are most certainly some items that properly should be discussed in closed session.  These items are clearly spelled out in state law and there are only a few items on the list.  Top among them in the City of Washougal are labor negotiations, property acquisitions, litigation and some limited personnel issues.

As Mayor I will see to it that these sessions are always held properly, will be announced in advance and when appropriate the substance of the session will be reported back to the audience and the media when coming back into public session.

For items that are borderline on being appropriate for executive session, they will be discussed in open session, in front of the public.

I will NOT make broad use of executive Session’s.  I will make the most limited use of them allowed.

I hope you found this information helpful.  I can be contacted with any comments or questions at  seanguard@comcast.net or 360-834-2533.