PORT ANGELES — Republican Clallam County commissioner candidate Bill Peach said at the beginning of a half-hour candidates forum Monday that he was willing to mix it up with his opponent, Democrat Sissi Bruch, a member of the Port Angeles City Council.
That was the case at the start of the Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce’s weekly luncheon program on the countywide general election race for the West End District 3 commissioner’s position now held by Mike Doherty, who is not seeking re-election.
“I’m very willing to take the kid gloves off,” Peach told the audience of 54 lunch-goers.
The Forks resident also noted Bruch’s vote against Nippon USA Industries’ biomass cogeneration plant permit and said she had voted with former City Councilman Max Mania against a $49 million sewer project, instead favoring a $180 million project.
Peach, 58, who is retired, provided few details on the project.
“That’s the type of behavior relative to your tax money that is something you should be cautious about,” said Peach, who identified himself as “a very strong believer in property rights” and a “strong capitalist” who believes government can impede business.
“There is a genuine need for a business-friendly government,” he said.
Bruch, 53, of Port Angeles, the top vote-getter in the Aug. 5 primary by 19 votes, did not directly defend her City Council actions.
“My opponent’s style is about divisiveness, half-truths and distortion, and that’s what I’m afraid he might bring to this position,” said Bruch, a senior planner with the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe.
“I promise to serve with honesty, transparency and integrity.
“I will be open-minded, and I will listen to you; I really will.”
Bruch said without good infrastructure, businesses will not come to Clallam County.
“The place for government is to put in place the infrastructure that allows businesses to come in here,” she said.
In the primary, confined to District 3 but which includes voters on Port Angeles’ west side, Bruch had 1,720 votes, or 41.59 percent to Peach’s 1,701 votes, or 41.13 percent.
Forks Mayor Bryon Monohon had 715 votes, or 17.29 percent, and was eliminated.
Bruch and Peach, former executive director of the Quileute tribe and a former Clallam County regional manager for Rayonier Inc., fielded a half-dozen questions, including one related to marijuana.
Sheila Roark Miller, the county community development director who is herself running for re-election, asked how the candidates voted on 2012’s statewide Initiative 502, which legalized recreational marijuana, and their views on a Sept. 23 county commissioners’ public hearing on a marijuana zoning ordinance.
Peach said he voted for I-502; Bruch did not say.
The process being followed to gather input from a citizens’ committee “is the right way to go, that’s the democratic process,” Peach said.
“The long and short of it is to make peace with your neighbor” if property is zoned for a marijuana-related business, he said.
Bruch said there is more to it than that.
“When you’re dealing with siting a huge building with high security fences, it’s hard to make peace with your neighbors,” she said.
Asked about the nearly $500,000 budget shortfall the county is facing for 2015, Bruch said the county needs “to address a long-term vision of that budget,” while Peach said anything not mandated by the county charter is “fair game to be considered for a cost decrease.”
One questioner noted the challenges facing the West End with Interfor Corp. closing two mills in Beaver and Forks and a slowdown of timber sales by the state Department of Natural Resources.
DNR sustainable-yield calculations have a variance of 20 percent, Peach said, asserting the agency was using incorrect data.
But Bruch said she was told that facilities at the mills also were getting old and needed major upgrading.
“It would have cost way too much to do that,” she said.
Bruch also called for “smart use of our resources” and said she believes in collaboration.
“I believe in reaching out to get to a better place,” she said.
In his closing statement, Peach criticized Bruch for emphasizing minimum wage tourism-related jobs instead of higher paying family-wage jobs.
Bruch responded by stressing her 25 years of planning experience and emphasizing the need for diversity in county government.
“Diversity is great to make our county government stronger,” she said.
“We need that debate, we need that conversation.”
She said the county should be a leader in working with the cities of Forks, Sequim and Port Angeles.
Ballots for the election will be mailed to voters Oct. 15 and must be returned by Election Day, Nov. 4.
According to the 2015 preliminary budget, the winner will receive a $67,189 salary beginning in January and a $60 monthly car allowance.
The winner’s duties will include passing a general fund budget that in 2014 is $32.4 million and which covers 364 full-time-equivalent employees.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5060, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
