EDITOR’S NOTE: Bill Peach’s age has been corrected in this report.
FORKS — Candidates for the Clallam County commissioners’ District 3 seat came out swinging at a Forks Chamber of Commerce forum this week.
Democrat Sissi Bruch accused Republican Bill Peach of misrepresenting her voting record as a member of the Port Angeles City Council, and Peach accused Bruch of being an outsider who would not represent the West End.
Bruch and Peach are running in the countywide Nov. 4 general election race for the seat now held by Mike Doherty, who is not seeking re-election for the district that covers the western third of the county from west Port Angeles to the Pacific Ocean.
Ballots for the election will be mailed to voters Oct. 15.
Bruch: ‘Misinformation’
After a coin toss, Bruch, 53, opened the Wednesday forum at JT’s Sweet Stuffs by telling about 50 people she is tired of “misinformation” being spread about her.
“I’ve been painted as someone who hated jobs,” said Bruch, a city councilwoman who is a senior planner with the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe.
When, as a councilwoman, she voted against approving Nippon’s power co-generation plant, it had little to do with the plant itself, she said.
She said the council had received a large amount of data on the project immediately before the vote was to be called, and she wanted to review the new information before making a vote.
Her “no” vote was meant to delay the vote until the council could review all materials, she said.
Instead, she said it has been categorized as being a vote against business.
Peach’s opening statement painted Bruch as knowing little about the western portion of Clallam County.
Bruch has been in Forks only five times and has no idea what West End voters need, while he has owned property in the area for 31 years, said Peach, 58, a former executive director of the Quileute tribe who retired from Rayonier Inc. as Clallam County regional manager.
“It’s been a long time since someone from the West End has represented the West End,” Peach said.
Bruch replied that while she had lived in Clallam County only since 2009, she has visited the West End much more than five times and plans to spend more time getting to know the people and issues.
“If I am elected, I will be in Forks every week,” Bruch said.
She said that while Peach once worked for the Quileute tribe, the tribe has endorsed her.
Peach touted business-friendly county policies if he is elected to the county commission seat.
Business will not come to the county if there are excessive regulations but will come if the county makes it easy for the business to operate, he said.
Bruch countered that bringing businesses to the county is a complicated issue and needs collaboration among local government entities.
Water regulations
Both agreed that water regulations that fit the dry, rain-shadowed Sequim may not be right for Forks, which gets more than 100 inches of rain a year.
Peach is a St. Regis, Mont., native with a master’s degree in business administration.
Bruch came to Port Angeles from Lansing, Mich., in 2009 and holds a doctorate in urban planning.
According to the 2015 preliminary budget, the commissioner job will earn a $67,189 salary beginning in January and a $60 monthly car allowance.
Duties will include passing a general fund budget that in 2014 is $32.4 million and that covers 364 full-time-equivalent employees.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
