By Pepper Fisher
PORT ANGELES – Clallam County has its first primary race set up for the 2022 election season.
Former Port Angeles Mayor, Planning Commission Chair and 2019 Ms. Senior USA Cherie Kidd filed Wednesday to run for Director of the Department of Community Development. She’ll face candidates Jesse Major and Kevin Russell.
Kidd served 3 terms on the City Council from 2008-2019. She served as Mayor in 2012 to 2013 and was Deputy Mayor in 2016 to 2017.
We asked her to talk about her qualifications and why she wants the job.
“I have 16 years experience with the City, four years in the Planning Commissioner’s chair, 12 years on the City Council. I’ve been through the comprehensive plan, and I have great relationships with other elected officials. My public outreach is my strong point, and I’m committed to community service and customer service. And when you walk into the planning department, customer service is key. So, I feel uniquely qualified and I’m willing to take on this position.”
Kidd is a third generation Port Angeles native and a graduate of Port Angeles High School. Her professional resume includes being the Executive Assistant to the President of Sprint. She has owned and managed three local businesses, including AAA Affordable Storage & U-Haul for the past 15 years.
She is a former president of the Noon Kiwanis Club and the Noon Soroptimist Club of Port Angeles. Kidd also served as Chair of the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee and P.A. Forward, and was selected for a Clallam County Community Service Award in 2020.
The other two candidates spoke specifically about code enforcement issues within the department, so was asked Kidd to give us her thoughts on the subject.
“I’ve always been a huge advocate of code compliance. In fact, you’ll see me around town picking up trash and painting over graffiti all the time. I’m very strong on code compliance, and I have good working relationships with the Sheriff. We all want to live in a beautiful place and I’m absolutely going to enforce code compliant procedures.”
Kidd says she has a good feel for the department’s strengths and areas she’d like to improve upon, including the recent high turnover of employees. She says solutions will require collaboration and community outreach.
“I am so interested in public outreach. This is our community, and I’m open to being accessible, having advisory committees, to expand affordable housing, to have good code enforcement, communication and collaboration with the Commissioners and other officials. This is our community. It’s not my choice, it’s the community’s vision. How do you want your county to grow? Let’s work together and make it happen.”