PORT ANGELES — And then there were five.
A former Clallam County senior planner and a Port Angeles businessman filed on Friday to create a crowded field of Aug. 17 primary election candidates for Clallam County’s top land use official.
Tim Woolett of Port Angeles, a county planner from 1997 to 2004, and Sean Ryan, co-owner of America’s Finest Fire and Restoration Co. in Port Angeles, became the fourth and fifth candidates for the position of director of the Department of Community Development.
Incumbent John Miller of Port Angeles, associate real estate broker Alan Barnard and DCD Code Compliance Officer Sheila Roark Miller of Carlsborg — no relation to John Miller — filed earlier last week for the position.
Clallam County is the only county in the nation where the community development director is elected. The DCD director serves a four-year term.
The DCD director’s salary is between $62,211 and $70,878 annually, depending on years in office.
The top-two primary election will narrow the field of DCD director candidates to two for the Nov. 2 general election.
Woolett
Woolett, 54, a Port Angeles native, worked full-time for the Green Crow timber products company in Port Angeles before being laid off in January and now is an on-call permitting consultant for the company, he said Friday.
“I was thinking about this for quite some time,” he said of running for the position.
“I really wanted to get back to the government side of it. I can see two sides of the operation. That’s not a campaign thing. It’s really the truth.”
His goal as DCD director would be “to see that everything happens in a timely manner.”
Woolett said will go into more detail on his approach to the job as the Aug. 17 primary approaches.
“I can’t criticize John [Miller], and I haven’t heard any bad comments about him,” Woolett added.
Woolett and his wife, Tricia, have an 8-year-old son.
Ryan
Ryan, a San Diego native who turns 48 this week, has lived in Port Angeles for 11 years and has owned and operated companies for 18 years, he said.
“I’ve helped put developments together, from the inception all the way to actually building units,” said Ryan, who is a volunteer firefighter for Clallam County Fire District 3.
“I think I’m more in touch with the people,” Ryan said.
“I serve them everyday. I just think I could do a better job, not that [Miller] doesn’t do a good job.”
If Ryan is elected, his business partner, Rob Bourns of Port Angeles, would take over control of 90 percent of their company, Ryan said.
He and his wife, Sheila, have two boys and a girl.
Miller
Miller was elected to the position without opposition in 2006.
He said Saturday that he will run on his track record against all four challengers.
The DCD during his tenure has processed “very few permits” that exceeded the processing deadlines of 90 days for a building permit and 120 days for a land-division permit, he said.
“We have not denied one building permit,” Miller added. “I think that’s a pretty darn good record. We go the extra mile.”
Miller also said he’s heard the criticism that he’s out of touch with people.
“The criticism has been made that I’m not accessible in my office,” he said.
“The way I manage, I allow the front-line people to provide the services. I do not want to step over their authority because I think they need to develop their skills as customer service people. As a person who is 61 years old, my job is to nurture their career development, and the only way to do that is to nurture their customer service skills.”
Miller added, “I’ve met with plenty of people who are project proponents.”
Roark Miller
Roark Miller, a 20-year employee of the department, became the county’s first woman building inspector in 1992. She became a certified building code and fire code official in 2006.
“With my depth of experience and technical skills, I can offer balanced stewardship that will help bridge the gap between government and private business,” said Roark Miller, 51, when she announced her candidacy earlier this month.
Barnard
Barnard, associate broker and owner of Re/Max Performance Team in Port Angeles, advocated expansion of the “service culture” of the department “to more effectively assist our citizens in several areas of concern,” when he announced he would run for the office in April.
He said that “folks who regularly require the services of the DCD have told me they feel strongly that the current leadership agenda is too narrow and that service needs more consistency and responsiveness.”
If elected, Barnard said he will set aside his real estate career to eliminating any perception of conflict of interest.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-417-3536 or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
