By Pepper Fisher
SEQUIM – The first of two Sequim City Council Candidate Forums in the Civic Center is a week away, scheduled for Wednesday, September 1 from 6:15pm to 8:45. It is going to be an in-person event and will not be video-conferenced, so attendance will be limited because of Covid-19 protocols.
The second event will be on October 14. Both are being presented by the Independent Advisory Association, which describes itself as “an independent, volunteer body of former elected officials and campaign activists” dedicated to “assisting novice candidates to launch their campaigns”.
Those former elected officials are Jim McEntire, former commissioner of both Clallam County and the Port of Port Angeles, and Donnie Hall, former Board member of the Clallam County Republican Party. The two hosted a similar council candidate forum in 2019 in the same location.
Five seats on the council are up for grabs this year. No moderator for the forums has been announced, though Sequim City Attorney Kristina Nelson-Gross was offered the job. She declined.
On Tuesday Donnie Hall sent us the questions the candidates will be asked.
CANDIDATE QUESTIONS
- Please discuss your assessment of the “State of the City” of Sequim. What needs to be maintained? What needs to be strengthened? What needs to be changed? Note that the fiscal health of the City is addressed in a later question.
- Tell us how your life experience has prepared you to be a member of the Sequim City Council.
- What would you do to improve the quality/timeliness of emergency health care in Sequim?
- What are the lessons City Council should take away from the Medication Assisted Treatment Clinic controversy?
- What do you propose to do to improve the transparency of government operations in the City of Sequim?
- What is your vision for the future of the John Wayne Marina?
- What is your assessment of the fiscal health of the City of Sequim? What policy changes are needed, if any, to improve the fiscal well-being of the City?