SEQUIM — The office of U.S. Rep Norm Dicks said the Belfair Democrat never committed to a Concerned Citizens of Clallam County forum with election opponent Doug Cloud on Monday.
Cloud, a Gig Harbor Republican, spoke to a mostly supportive crowd of about 200 at the Sequim Boys & Girls Club.
Concerned Citizens of Clallam County, or FourC, said it found out on Friday that the incumbent 6th District representative would not attend the event. It was originally advertised that he would.
“We never confirmed with FourC that Norm would be at the forum,” Dicks spokeswoman Anna Boone said on Tuesday.
Boone said Dicks flew back to Washington, D.C., on Monday to be present for important votes in Congress and to work on a continuing resolution in the appropriations bill.
Dicks, 69, is the second-ranking member of the powerful House Appropriations Committee. He has represented the 6th Congressional District, which includes the North Olympic Peninsula, for 34 years.
With the stage to himself, Cloud, 53, delivered several applause lines during a half-hour talk.
He was introduced by primary challenger Jesse Young, a Republican who was eliminated from the Congressional race on Aug. 17.
Dicks garnered 57.8 percent of the primary vote while Cloud won 28.2 percent and Young had 13.9 percent.
The top two vote-getters in the primary advanced to the Nov. 2 general election. Ballots will be mailed on Oct. 13.
Dicks representative
A Cloud supporter held up a sign that read: “Where’s Norm?” as Dicks campaign representative Nick Woodson read talking points from the campaign.
“Norm regrets that he can’t be here this evening, but he sends his sincere thank you to the Concerned Citizens of Clallam County for hosting this forum,” said Woodson.
Woodson said Dicks is committed to improving opportunities for Peninsula’s residents. He said Dicks has secured resources for the Elwha River dam removal project, helped reform health care reimbursement rates and supported tax credits for small businesses.
Cloud calls for change
“We need real, earth-shaking, hair-raising revolutionary-type change right now,” said Cloud, who took nearly a dozen questions from the audience.
Asked what steps he would take to reduce the federal deficit, Cloud said: “Obviously, we have to cut spending.
“That is the problem,” Cloud continued. “It’s not too low of a tax level. It’s too high a spending level.”
To cut spending, Cloud said the nation needs to end the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq “at some point” and get people “off the idea that they can be subsidized.”
Cloud touted the need for competition “in every endeavor in our lives, or we’re not going to get the best out of government or ourselves.”
He said the Federal Reserve System is “a root cause” of the current economic crisis.
Cloud said he fully supports Arizona’s “attempt to fill the gap left by the federal government” to enforce illegal immigration laws.
“It’s crazy,” Cloud said.
“It’s absolutely demoralizing to the American public. And it is also a sign that our government is not really that capable right now,” he added.
“In fact, it is very weak in certain areas of its Constitutional duties, one of which is securing the border.”
Asked how constituents in the 6th Congressional District can be assured that Cloud would not “turn into one of them” if elected, he said: “I have never really wavered in my beliefs, and I never will.”
One of the biggest bouts of applause came after Cloud was asked about energy policy.
“We have plenty of energy to last thousands of years if we just get the government out of the way,” he said.
Woodson did not field questions from the audience.
The first hour of the two-hour forum involved Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney Deb Kelly and her challenger, Sequim attorney Larry Freedman.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
