STANWOOD CAMANO NEWS: Meet the Island County Commissioner candidates
Izzie Lund reports:
Three candidates are vying for the Island County Commissioner District 3 position.
One is an incumbent fighting to keep her seat, one seeks to reclaim his old office and one hopes to bring fresh blood to the position. Voters will narrow the race to two candidates during the primary.
The district represents all of Camano Island and north Whidbey Island, including Naval Air Station Whidbey Island.
Incumbent Janet St. Clair said she is stressing her accomplishments and COVID-19 pandemic response. Rick Hannold, who served as commissioner from 2014 to 2018, said he emphasizes his problem-solving and leadership. Timothy Hazelo, a Republican challenger, said he wants to reduce the influence of “big government” in policies.
They Said It
“I ran for office in 2018 because I felt there were critical priorities and values not being represented,” St. Clair said.
“I have worked on these issues as well as access to care, advocating for better resources in Island County and working to stop the closure of the public hospital on Whidbey,” she said. “I also pivoted from ongoing health care advocacy to crisis management during the pandemic assuring response that was based on science and data.”
“I cannot promise to solve all the problems, but I will work hard, do the research and tell the truth so constituents can make the best decisions possible for their needs,” she said.
“I’m just concerned about the way the budget is being handled at the county, I think they’re focusing too much on helping human services and not enough on basic essential public services,” he said. “Road, infrastructure, snow removal, drainage systems.”
“I know a lot of people up here in north Whidbey, the county designed and installed systems that are past their prime, not heavily properly maintained,” Hannold said. “Their properties are flooding in the winter time because of it, and there seems to be a lack of desire to remedy these situations.”
“It’s pretty simple. Things were going really, really well when I was in the county previously,” Hannold said. “I know the job, to do it and to do it well. And to listen to people and to look for creative solutions to issues that come up. Focus on the future.”
“I want to be able to be that big buffer between the big government and the state and small governments, and our rural beliefs and rural lifestyles here in Island County,” Hazelo said. “I want people to trust that their Island County Board of Commissioners have their best interests (in mind.)”
“What we’ve done is we’ve adapted these big-city, big-government, housing-first type situations and what it does is it attracts more homeless people and more addicted people,” he said. “There’s no problem helping these folks out, but if we invite them in, that means there’s a bigger problem and we’re a smaller county. We don’t have the money to deal with these things.”
“I want to go in and review all these policies and procedures. If it’s not doing any good, then we need to either get rid of it or fix it,” Hazelo said. “Just do what’s right for people.”
