FORKS — Port of Port Angeles commission candidates Connie Beauvais and Michael Breidenbach discussed restoration of the timber industry and expanding business opportunities in the West End during a forum in Forks.
The candidates, who are vying Nov. 3 for the District 3 commission seat being vacated by John Calhoun, also debated Thursday the effectiveness of the Clallam County Economic Development Council.
The forum, one in a series of five scheduled county-wide in advance of the general election, was hosted by the League of Women Voters of Clallam County at the Forks Rainforest Arts Center.
The forum featured three races. In addition to the Port of Port Angeles commissioner race, it presented hopefuls for the Clallam County Board of Commissioners and the Forks City Council Position 5 seat.
Incumbent County Commissioner Jim McEntire, 64, a Republican from Sequim, did not attend because of a scheduling conflict. He was represented by Phil Kitchel.
His opponent, Mark Ozias, 45, a Sequim Democrat who is executive director of the Sequim Food Bank, did attend.
Christina Kohout, 32, who is running for the Forks City Council seat, also did not attend. A Policy Council parent with Olympic Community Action Programs, she was in Washington, D.C., advocating early childhood education.
Her opponent Jon Preston, 56, known as a longtime ranger at Olympic National Park and currently the owner and steward of the Frederick and Mary Rosemond arboretum of Forks, attended the forum.
About 10 people were in attendance, not including League of Women Voters volunteers, leading Preston to comment about the lack of participation.
“There should be more people from Forks in this audience,” he said.
“I don’t like the apathy. I participate. I try to when I have time.”
Port of Port Angeles
Neika Miller-Thomas of Forks asked the two port candidates how they would bring back the lumber industry that once thrived on the West End.
Beauvais referred to a forestry council that has been set up through the county commissioners.
“That is a group that is going to study if it is, in fact, going to be in the county’s best interest for us to take over the management of our timber again,” she said.
Breidenbach said the supply of timber for harvest and processing needs to be increased.
“There needs to be new thoughts behind it other than simply having the [state] Department of Natural Resources keep managing the land or having the county create a new bureaucracy to manage the same land,” he said.
When asked by the moderator about the responsibility of commissioners to business owners on the West End, Beauvais remarked “that most of the port property, and the revenue that is made by the port, is actually in District 3.
“There are a lot of jobs available,” she said.
“We need to get people out here (in Forks) retrained to work those jobs there.”
She added: “We also need to look at manufacturing jobs” that can be centered in the Forks area.
Breidenbach said he believes it is the responsibility of the port to do more than it has to encourage West End growth.
“I would like to see an economic trade zone, possibly here in Forks,” he said.
“I would like to see something similar in Clallam Bay and Sekiu.”
Economic development
Beauvais touted the Clallam County Economic Development Council as a useful tool for job creation.
“That is a government organization that is there . . . to bring in big business and small business,” she said.
Breidenbach said the Economic Development Council has not performed well at that task.
“It turned into somewhat of a bureaucracy and it has never fulfilled its mission,” he said.
“It is not working now . . . and I don’t think it is going to work.”
He added he “probably will not vote to fund it” if elected.
“I think the port has much better facilities and personnel to accomplish coordination with other groups,” he said.
Beauvais said she believes the council can work and that it is working.
“There are a lot of things going on behind the scenes to bring some very big business into our area. I would really hate to see them fail.”
Beauvais, 64, of Joyce, manages the Crescent Water Association and is co-owner of Alpacas of Cedar Wind.
She serves on the 2015 Charter Review Commission.
Breidenbach, 63, of Forks, is a Forks city councilman. He is retired from Rayonier, where he was the West Coast senior manager.
Forks City Council
The absent Kohout was represented by Nora Alwarth.
“Some of the priorities I would like to look at for my first year include bringing more business to Forks,” Kohout wrote in a prepared statement read aloud by Alwarth.
“We need to focus more on services for our tourists.”
Preston, who attended the forum, agreed.
“We’ve got a river . . . of money that comes through this town every summer, and that summer has gotten much bigger,” he said.
“I think there is a cut of that, that is if we can create an environment in which they want to stop and spend more time here, there is a lot of money in that for us.
“Can I make that more possible? Not alone, but we’ve got to look at that river of money.”
Kohout wrote that she “will continue to be innovative and creative in finding more ways to bring business to Forks”
Preston said that while “timber is vital and always will be vital for this community, it should . . . never be the only thing, because when you put things in one basket, it falls apart.
“You’ve got a whole bunch of unemployed people. Let’s broaden our horizons. Let’s expand our imagination.”
County commissioner
Miller-Thomas asked Ozias about what could be done by the three Clallam County commissioners to help small businesses succeed in the West End.
Kitchel was prohibited from responding to public questions on McEntire’s behalf.
“I think that the county has an important role in helping small businesses and that role is primarily in coordination and making connections,” Ozias said.
“I think that the county ought to be working to make sure that all of the organizations that support small businesses more directly are working together.”
Upcoming forums
The next league forum is set from 1:30 to 4 p.m. today at the Port Angeles City Council Chambers, 321 E. First St.
It will feature the port commissioner race and three Port Angeles School Board races.
On Tuesday, a forum is set from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Sequim Transit Center, 190 W. Cedar St.
It will feature candidates for the county commission, Sequim City Council, Sequim Aquatic Recreation Center and Fire District 3 commission.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, or at cmcdaniel@peninsuladailynews.com.
