9 of 11 county commission candidates make their pitch

Tumwater City Councilwoman Karen Valenzuela, administrative aide Susan Bogni and former Tumwater City Councilman Walt Jorgensen were ranked highest by precinct committee officers Saturday among the 11 applicants seeking to fill the seat left vacant by retiring Thurston County Commissioner Bob Macleod.

Nine of the 11 applicants participated in a largely informational forum Saturday to introduce themselves to the public and the 37 PCOs who live in Macleod's district.

The PCOs also were asked to vote for their top three applicants, which resulted in a nonbinding, point-based ranking that will be forwarded to PCOs countywide on Monday. They will then recommend three applicants to the Thurston County Board of Commissioners, said Jim Cooper, chairman of the Thurston County Democrats.

All of the applicant's names will be forwarded to the Monday meeting; the non-binding vote and ranking is a tool the countywide PCOs can use to help them make a decision, Cooper said.

The commissioners will then select an applicant to replace Macleod within 60 days. If they can't, it becomes the Governor's decision, he said.

Saturday's three-hour meeting, held before about 100 people at the Thurston County Courthouse, started with the nine applicants introducing themselves, followed by questions prepared in advance, and ending with questions submitted by audience members.

Jack Turner, who has worked as liaison with the Skokomish Indian tribe and is vice-chairman of a Thurston County storm-water advisory board; former Olympia School Board member Russ Lehman; and former Port of Olympia Commissioner Jeff Dickison were absent.

Lehman's friend, Stephen Bray, sat in for Lehman and spoke on his behalf.

Also in attendance were Macleod's administrative aide Bogni; Tumwater City Councilwoman Valenzuela; former Tumwater School Board member Corinne Tobeck; former Tumwater Councilman Jorgensen; Ed Crawford, a retired State Patrol employee who ran for the Senate two years ago in King County; Gayle Broadbent, land-use advocate and Adam's Cove spokeswoman; Richard Emde, a coordinator of volunteers at the state Capitol; and Erik Landaas, a county health department employee who considered a run two years ago.

After answering five of 10 questions that were submitted to the applicants before the forum, the applicants spent one minute each answering two questions raised by audience members. The following are the audience questions and some of their responses.

How are you qualified and prepared to deal with the (county) budget shortfall for law enforcement, courts and the jail?

Tobeck: I was a police reserve officer for the city of Olympia for five years, so I understand law enforcement and their needs. I would also look for grant money that might be available.

Crawford: I have spent 42 years in law enforcement, including the past 15 years as police chief in Kent. I know how to manage a jail, I know what lawyers think, what judges think and what police officers think. You have to try to do the best you can with what you have, and a lot of it is dealing with the community.

Landaas: My approach would be to be a team player and find ways to communicate and be a good listener to find out what the issues are. I would reach out to all the law enforcement entities in the county and go out to the different city councils and talk about the issues they are facing and how we can collaborate with them.

Broadbent: Streamline and make them more efficient and save some money and keep more of those services available for us.

Valenzuela: I like the notion of the (county's) Accountability and Restitution Center because it is more than simply a jail but also provides services to people who end up there. Constructing it, however, means the county is now in a position to fund operations and maintenance of two jails. We need to reconstitute the law and justice council.

Emde: The best thing to look for is efficiencies and the experts in these organizations would be the ones to talk to first, to see where they could make things more efficient.

Bray (speaking for Lehman): He's talked about looking at the budget holistically and to try to analyze every component of the budget.

Bogni: We need to pull together all the elected officials and have them be the budget team. It is their responsibility and I would make sure we increase that team and work from that legislative perspective.

Jorgensen: I have spent time researching sources for augmenting revenue. The utility tax might be one way to take care of the situation.

Whether you are appointed to the seat or not, will you run for the position in 2009 and 2010?

Crawford: Probably not. But I think you have to reserve decision to see what kind of job the appointee does.

Landaas: I plan on running, regardless of the appointment.

Broadbent: This is a huge job of being a good county commissioner and for a county facing so many issues. I would do the job (of appointee) first then decide.

Valenzuela: If not appointed, no, I would not run in 2009. However, if we appoint someone who is not doing the job I will assess in 2010 whether I will run.

Emde: For brevity, what she (Valenzuela) said.

Bray (speaking for Lehman): He hasn't responded specifically to that question, but he has said while he would like to be the appointee, he will support a strong and progressive appointee.

Bogni: I will seek the position. I was anticipating running for the position when Macleod's term ended in 2010.

Jorgensen: It depends on who is appointed. At this point, I certainly would want to give the appointee an opportunity to perform in office and to run for re-election.

Corinne Tobeck: I most likely would not run for the election in the future. However, if appointed I would look to you (the community) for support financially with recommendations on how I could run my campaign. But more than likely, I would not put my hat in the ring.

Tobeck’s comments were left out of a story that appeared in Sunday’s Olympian on page B2.

Rolf Boone is a reporter for The Olympian. He can be reached at 360-754-5403 or rboone@theolympian.com.