OLYMPIA — Steve Tharinger will not seek a fourth term as a Clallam County commissioner, the Sequim Democrat announced Tuesday.
Tharinger is serving simultaneously as the District 1 county commissioner and as a freshman legislator in the state House of Representatives.
Since taking the oath of office for state representative in early January, Tharinger has participated in county meetings by speaker phone from Olympia, where he represents the 24th District, which includes Clallam and Jefferson counties and the northern half of Grays Harbor County.
Tharinger’s term as a top Clallam County policymaker expires at the end of this year.
The decision not to run for county commissioner “has been particularly difficult because it is never easy to leave a good team,” he said in an email.
“But I am very much looking forward to continuing to serve the Peninsula in the capacity of state representative.”
When reached by cellphone Tuesday, Tharinger said he always knew it would be challenging to hold both offices at once.
“It’s about what I expected, but to sustain that for another term I just think is a lot to ask of my wife and my friends,” Tharinger said.
“I haven’t had a free weekend since the Legislature started. I knew had to make a transition at some point.
“This seems to be as good a time as any.”
When the legislative session ends later this month, Tharinger will return to his home near Sequim and focus on key county issues such as a proposed sewer project in Carlsborg and a Dungeness watershed plan.
While he was criticized during the election for intending to “double-dip” into public money by holding positions in both county and state government, Tharinger has maintained that it was important to finish his third commissioner term because he was elected by county citizens.
He also said he would return some of his county pay in the form of a tax-deductible donation if he didn’t work a 40-hour week on county business.
County Administrator Jim Jones said Tuesday that Tharinger has not given the county any money but added that Tharinger wasn’t expected to do so until the end of the legislative session.
Clallam County Republican Party Chairman Dick Pilling said he was pleased that Tharinger won’t run for another term at the county level.
He said there are too many opportunities for conflicts of interest to arise.
“With all due respect to Mr. Tharinger, I don’t think it was possible to do both jobs,” Pilling said.
Pilling declined to speculate on which Republicans might throw their hats into the ring.
“When the person or persons decides to run, we will make an announcement,” he said.
Tharinger’s Republican opponent for the state legislative seat in November said he is considering running for the county commission position.
Jim McEntire of Sequim, a Port of Port Angeles commissioner, said Tuesday he has been approached by “a lot of people” about a possible run for county commissioner.
“I’m giving it some serious thought,” McEntire said Tuesday.
“We’ll see where this thing goes.”
McEntire and Tharinger ran a tight race when they squared off in the fall for the state legislative seat.
Tharinger won the districtwide vote — 52.33 percent to 47.67 percent — but McEntire won Clallam County, 51.77 percent to Tharinger’s 48.23 percent.
Tharinger was first elected to the Board of County Commissioners in 1999. He represents the eastern third of the county dominated by the city of Sequim.
Commissioner Mike Chapman, an independent from Port Angeles who was originally elected as a Republican, represents the middle third of the county in District 2, which includes Port Angeles.
Commissioner Mike Doherty, D-Port Angeles, represents the western third, District 3, which includes Forks.
Matthew Randazzo, Clallam County’s Democratic Party chairman, said the party is “extremely grateful to Steve Tharinger for his service” on both the Clallam County board and in the state House of Representatives.
“We think he’ll continue to do a great job in Olympia, and we have no doubt that a qualified and popular candidate will soon enter the race and succeed him for a nomination for Clallam County commissioner,” he said.
Randazzo said Tharinger has been a “linchpin” on a county board that works well together and has “great chemistry.”
“It’s a pretty big change,” he added.
Tharinger said he has no preferred candidate to take his spot at the county.
He said he will be “interested to see the names come up” and likely will make an endorsement during the campaign.
Tharinger’s three Republican opponents in the past four elections for county commissioner said Tuesday they were not surprised that Tharinger was not running for re-election, all citing the workload entailed in holding down two elective positions.
But Martha Ireland, Sue Forde and Bob Forde — the Fordes are married — said they would not run for Tharinger’s seat. Nor did they know of anyone who has decided to run for the position.
Ireland, a Peninsula Daily News columnist, defeated Tharinger in 1995 by 53 percent to 47 percent but lost to him in 1999 by 88 votes.
“County commissioner is very much a high-pressure, full-time job,” Ireland said.
Women in the Republican Women of Clallam County, in which Ireland is active, “have said, ‘Gee, it would be nice for a woman to run,’” Ireland said.
“If anyone is thinking, ‘Gee, I wonder if Martha Ireland will run,’ the answer is no,” Ireland added.
Sue Forde, whom Tharinger defeated 55 percent to 45 percent in 2003, called it “a wide-open race” for Tharinger’s county seat.
“It will make an off-year [election] quite interesting,” Forde said.
Bob Forde, whom Tharinger defeated 58 percent to 42 percent in 2007, said he predicted in November, after Tharinger won the state legislative race, that Tharinger would not run again for county commissioner.
“When he decided to run for two offices, the political writing was in the sand,” said Forde, a retired car salesman.
While Sue Forde said, “No, I would not consider running,” Bob Forde, asked the same question, said, “No, hell no.”
McEntire said didn’t know what was behind Tharinger’s decision.
“I do want to thank him for his service,” McEntire said.
“Anybody who stands for election and serves deserves a lot of credit. It’s not an easy job.”
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-417-3536 or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
