Clark County Conservative

Couv.com Releasing Clark County Candidate Interviews

14 Comments to “Couv.com Releasing Clark County Candidate Interviews”

1. 
   Margaret Tweet
   October 7, 2011 at 4:00 PM

   Shannon Turk was very recently appointed to the Camas City Council , July 25, 2011. I haven’t noticed her at local government meetings in Camas, Washougal, the Camas-Washougal Port, C-Tran or the county prior to this recent appointment.
   She is an alternate liason for the library, and neither she nor the other city liason was at a recent lengthy presentation at the library about the future of libraries with panelists from Oregon and FVRL.

   For more information, please visit http://www.Tweet4Camas.com
2. 
   Alex Reinhold
   October 7, 2011 at 9:09 PM

   Luckily the couv.com seems really great at avoiding anything in Battle Ground, so i guess I can go back to ignoring it.
3. 
   lewwaters
   October 7, 2011 at 10:48 PM

   Well then, Alex. When any of the Battle Ground candidates interviews come up, assuming they responded to the invitation, I’ll be sure to let you know you can ignore them.

   As for ignoring Battle Ground,

   http://couv.com/issues/bg-contributions

   Weren’t you one accusing David Madore, CEO of Couv.com of paying too much attention to Battle Ground recently since he donated funds to some candidates?

   If you cannot keep abreast of goings on concerning Battle Ground any better than that, should you reconsider your own seat on the council?
4. 
   jeremy
   October 8, 2011 at 12:00 PM

   Alex, you might want to note several comments from Lew’s post:

   “…founded Couv.com with a focus on various avenues of concern for Clark County. Such a focus is found in the interviews that are now being rolled out 2 at a time by region.”

   And

   “Mr. Madore outlines the procedures for the interviews here, indicating questions were not given to any candidate before hand and each was prohibited from sharing the questions with other candidates prior to their interview.”

   Before making that comment and complaining.
5. 
   jeremy
   October 8, 2011 at 12:03 PM

   Another thing I believe Lew did not state in that arficle that please do seak out the various candidates websites (many of them lew has listed on his main, frontpage, ride side?) and check out what the candidates have to say on the positions you care about.

   And it its not listed on their website, please contact the person or their campaign staff.
6. 
   Greg Owens
   October 11, 2011 at 9:27 AM

   David Madore’s Couv.com is only a vehicle through which to forward his own agenda. It is NOT an unbiased third party. The questions asked only relate to the that agenda and he leaves many other issues unaddressed, especially for local candidates outside of Vancouver.

   It is thoroughly a waste of time. I wholeheartedly agree with Jeremy. Please do seek out the websites and other communications from all the candidates, and hopefully, watch and listen to them in ALL of the debates and discussions. Most will take the time to talk to you personnally if you so choose.

   In my opinion, Shannon Turk and Scott Higgins are far and away the most qualified and the ones most willing to work with Camas city staff and departments to resolve issues rather than to just create conflict. They listen to their constituents and work through issues, rather than make accusations without basis.

   Ms. Tweet and Mr. Kakuk bring far too much weirdness and personal issues with them to be the truly effective leaders we need in these trying times.
7. 
   lewwaters
   October 11, 2011 at 9:58 AM

   Well duh, Greg. David Madore furthers his views through Couv.com, just as Scott Campbell does through the Columbian with Brancaccio, Rice, Laird, Damewood and others, just as I do my own here, Hinton does with his blog and every liberal who has a blog does with theirs. That is called freedom of expression, we all have it, so far. Many of the articles there have nothing to do with politics and from what I have seen, the candidate interviews are fair and balanced, each asked the same exact questions and given time at the end to make any statement they choose.

   Yes, the question focus on a different area, so what? I find it quite odd that you say, “Please do seek out the websites and other communications from all the candidates” yet appear here to denigrate one such site of information because you disagree with the owner.

   As far as the candidates go, you’re entitled to your opinions and may support and vote for whomever you choose, just like the rest of us. I might not agree with every candidate Madore supports, but I support his right to back any he wishes, just as I do your right to back any you choose.

   But, Couv.com is nothing more than another source of information on issues that might not be as well addressed elsewhere.
8. 
   Greg Owens
   October 11, 2011 at 10:08 AM

   “I find it quite odd that you say, “Please do seek out the websites and other communications from all the candidates” yet appear here to denigrate one such site of information because you disagree with the owner.”

   Actually, Mr. Madore and I agree on probably more than he would care to admit. Where I have ADAMANTLY (you may have noticed) addressed him is on his lack of transaparancy, when, in every public communication from him, he insists that he is transparent, and continues to push Couv.com as an unbiased source.

   I agree with you, Lew. Everyone is entitled to present their views and opinions using any medium they so desire. You, and many others, do so in a very transparent and obvious fashion. It is when you do so and pretend to be something else that I have an issue. And, at times, I do have an issue with the Columbian as well.
9. 
   lewwaters
   October 11, 2011 at 10:15 AM

   Greg, I have seen you bring that up before, but you sort of dance around and aren’t specific on where he isn’t transparent.

   I don’t know of anybody who is 100% transparent all of the time. But, you have already said, “David Madore’s Couv.com is only a vehicle through which to forward his own agenda. It is NOT an unbiased third party,” so where is anything being hidden from you?

   If you claim to know he has an agenda, although I prefer to call it not an agenda, but a strong point of view, where is he hiding anything from you or the rest of us? He’s been very open about his opposition to light rail and tolls, just as I have been and several others. It is well known he owns a business and it is profitable and debt free. He wears his Christianity on his sleeve for all to see.

   So, feel free to express where you believe he is not being up front.
10. 
    Greg Owens
    October 11, 2011 at 11:16 AM

    A list of questions for CAMAS candidates on Couv.com

    Impact Fees (Vancouver, Madore issue)
    Chuck’s produce wants to open a new store to create 80 new private local jobs. They face nearly $1 million in impact fees. Specifically what steps would you take to attract new businesses and what is your view on impact fees?
    Raising Taxes (Madore issue)
    Vancouver city is not able to maintain police and fire budgets without federal assistance. Do you support increasing taxes such as a new 5% entertainment tax for a baseball stadium or new debt for operations? Specifically how should we prioritize taxes and expenditures?
    C-Tran Bus Rapid Transit (Madore issue)
    C-Tran is spending $2 million to study Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) for Fourth Plain Blvd that could cost up to $300 million to serve as a feeder for light rail. What is your position on BRT and taking away traffic lanes on Fourth Plain Blvd?
    C-Tran Management (Madore issue)
    C-Tran has been adding $222,000 per bus to add the green hybrid option to save 15 cents per mile for a net loss of $195,000 after 1 million miles. Do you support these priorities and raising the sales tax for C-Tran? Or can C-Tran be better managed to serve citizens more efficiently with existing taxes?
    Light Rail (Madore issue)
    The Vancouver City Council and C-Tran recently approved the CRC light rail project to move forward with funding and construction without a vote of the people. Do you support building Light Rail in Clark County?
    Growth vs. Sprawl (Madore issue)
    When I-205 freeway was built 30 years ago, it fueled much new growth in east Clark County. Do you support and encourage that kind of growth or do you consider that as undesirable sprawl that should be restrained? Would you support building a new Columbia River Bridge at NE 192 Ave knowing that it would likely fuel new east county growth?
    Financial Stewardship (Madore issue)
    The City and county spends virtually all income on operations and maintenance every year and leaves nothing for new capital projects. That practice requires virtually every new project to be funded with new debt and new taxes. Do you support continuing that practice or do you have a better way to handle finances?
    Closing Comments

    Where are the questions about CWEDA? EMS? Camas Education? Port of CW? And other importand local issues?

    Since the candidates don’t know the questions ahead of time, how can they affectively address those local issues in his forum when they are being steered toward his issues? Would the candidates have a different view of participating in an interview that was so drastically pointed if they knew that in advance?

    This is a transparancy issue, Lew. One of many; and, if you have been following my comments, you would know some of the others.

    David Madore’s statement from a Columbian comment:

    “We want to model transparency and let the candidates speak for themselves”

    Then let them. Stop the pointed interview nonsense or at least let them know in advance what is happening.
11. 
    Greg Owens
    October 11, 2011 at 11:38 AM

    wow…typed a little too quick there…feel free to hassle me about the spelling errors… 🙂
12. 
    lewwaters
    October 11, 2011 at 11:44 AM

    Greg those are issues affecting each of us and are of interest to many of us, not just David Madore.

    I find your point of view by posting only the questions as rather disingenuous, as you some how neglected to include Madore’s own words of, “We also gave candidates an opportunity to make an impromptu closing statement, in case they felt compelled to address different topics or share why they were running for office,” and “We understand that there are many more topics worth exploring and each city has its own unique issues. In retrospect, it may have been helpful to have tailored additional questions for each city. Perhaps, we can do that next time” that preceded release of the 21 interviews.

    http://couv.com/featured/candidates1

    Who else is giving such coverage to Woodland candidates? Or Yacolt? They’re part of the county too.

    Sinceyou said before that you probably agree with Madore than he realizes, why not try working with him on such issues as candidate questions instead of always opposing his efforts? No interview is ever perfect and many things are missed..

    Anybody can bellyache that others are providing what they want. But, did you try to include yourself in the process? Did you ask Madore to ask certain questions?
13. 
    lewwaters
    October 11, 2011 at 11:53 AM

    I make enough typos of my own to waste time pointing out other people’s 😉

    All my pencils have erasers too
14. 
    jeremy
    October 11, 2011 at 8:17 PM

    Time for the browser spell checker, Lew? 🙂

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