SEQUIM — Clallam County commissioner Steve Tharinger, one of four candidates hoping to replace retiring House Majority Leader Lynn Kessler, was once again the focal point of criticism at a candidate forum last week.
Opponents Larry Carter, a Port Ludlow Republican, and Jack Dwyer, a Montesano Democrat, called Tharinger, a Sequim Democrat, a “double-dipper” at the forum held by the League of Women Voters of Clallam County at the Sequim Senior Center on Saturday.
Tharinger, Carter, Dwyer and Jim McEntire, a Sequim Republican are vying for Position 2 in the 24th District.
Ballots for the Aug. 17 primary will be mailed Wednesday. The top two vote-getters in the primary will, regardless of party affiliation, be on the Nov. 2 general ballot.
Same criticism
Tharinger has said he will not give up his seat on the county commission, which pays $63,502 annually, if he is elected to the $42,106-a-year part-time legislative seat.
The commissioner had received the same “double-dipping” criticism at candidate forums in Grays Harbor County and Port Townsend.
In response, Tharinger said Saturday that if he is elected, he will not accept any payment from the county for his position on the commission when the Legislature is in session.
“Commissioner Tharinger, you’ve had enough chances in your campaign to say this before,” responded Dwyer, a chiropractor and a Montesano School Board member who has said he would resign the unpaid board position if he were elected to the Legislature.
“The people of this district have lost their trust in you as you flip-flop on issues,” Dwyer added.
McEntire kept out of the discussion. He has said that he would resign as Port of Port Angeles commissioner if elected to replace Kessler.
Tharinger said he believes he could do both jobs at once and would participate in commission meetings via telephone when he’s in Olympia.
He said that the other candidates “don’t understand how it works.”
“Your arrogance is not lost on any of us,” Carter said, “when you say we don’t understand what it takes.
“How are we going to trust you, sir, when you’re going to change your mind?”
Carter, a retired Navy master chief petty officer, and Dwyer also criticized Tharinger for talking about his experience on the state Salmon Recovery Board.
“Commissioner Tharinger spent 85 percent of his time talking about salmon,” Carter said.
“To me, that’s very disturbing.”
Missed meetings
Dwyer also said that Tharinger has missed 24 percent of the county commission’s meetings this year.
Each week, the commissioners have two meetings: a work session Monday, where issues are discussed but no action is taken, and a regular meeting Tuesday, where commissioners vote on action items.
A look at meeting minutes show that Tharinger was absent from four of the 26 regular meetings, or about 15 percent of those meetings this year.
He was also absent from two of the 26 work sessions, or about 7.6 percent of the work sessions this year.
All together, Tharinger has been absent from 11.5 percent of the work sessions and regular meetings, according to the meeting minutes.
Tharinger said after the forum that he doesn’t feel that the missed meetings are an issue since the agenda items are usually worked out in the work session ahead of time.
“I still think that the numbers don’t represent my engagement and understanding of all the issues whether I’m at the meeting or not,” Tharinger said.
The commissioner said after the meeting he was absent because of meetings elsewhere, such as the National Association of Counties conference in Washington, D.C., or because of being on vacation for a week.
Tharinger joked that he was “flattered that all of the people are talking about me today.”
State budget
The rest of the forum was spent talking mostly about the state’s dwindling budget.
McEntire and Carter both said that the state should focus on cuts and not consider new taxes to deal with another projected deficit.
Dwyer said the state lacks proper leadership and criticized the Legislature for suspending the tax-limiting Initiative 960.
The suspension of the initiative also was criticized by Carter and McEntire.
Tharinger was the one candidate who didn’t oppose suspending I-960.
“We need to let them do the work,” he said of legislators.
Tharinger said the most important thing voters can do is elect “accountable, transparent leaders.”
Dwyer: Basic education
In terms of budget policy, Dwyer said the state needs to fully fund basic education “once and for all” and criticized the salaries of university presidents and football coaches.
He also said he would take an unpaid workday for approving any additional furlough days for state employees.
McEntire said he would support more spending cuts as well as removing barriers for job growth.
“It’s government’s job to set the table and get out of the way,” he said.
Tharinger said the state needs to look at cuts and ways to be more efficient.
Carter said the state needs “no more gar darn spending” and needs to find ways to attract businesses to move to Washington.
Budgeting experience
In terms of budgeting experience, McEntire said he helped put together the Coast Guard’s budget on the federal level before he retired as a captain. He also said the port has kept its tax levy the same over the past two years.
Tharinger said Clallam County is one of the two in the state without any debt.
Dwyer said the Montesano School District has used more efficient ways to heat buildings to reduce cost.
Carter said he didn’t have budgeting experience but added that the state needs to look at its budget the same way average people look at their own expenses.
The League of Women Voters forum was co-sponsored by the American Association of University Women, Port Angeles radio station KONP, the Sequim Senior Center and the weekly Sequim Gazette newspaper.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
