By Pat Grubb
The filing period for candidates for local and county offices has closed and it looks like some local boards will be looking to appoint commissioners once the current term of office ends at the close of 2019. No one filed for Point Roberts Public Hospital District, commissioner position 2, currently held by Dick Williams, according to the county auditors website.
Similarly, the parks district commission position 2 seat, currently held by Stephen Falk, had no applicants. Falk will be running unopposed for the hospital position 1 seat he currently holds. Individuals can only run for one elected position per election cycle. No one tossed their hat into the ring for the cemetery district position 1, currently held by Ernie Loreen. While other Point offices are running unopposed, there will be plenty of competitive elections in the rest of the county positions that will be voted upon by voters in Point Roberts and the rest of the county. Long-time District 3 county council member Barbara Brenner withdrew her candidacy for the newly redistricted District 4 on May 16. Note: Incumbents that are running again are listed first followed by challengers. Current incumbents not running again appear at the end of the list.
Point Roberts Public Hospital Dist.
Commissioner Pos. 1 (4-year unexpired) No candidate, currently Stephen Falk
Commissioner Pos. 2 (6-year) Stephen Falk, currently Dick Williams
Point Roberts Park and Recreation Dist. 1
Commissioner Pos. 1 (4-year) Bennett Blaustein, challenger Hugh Wilson
Commissioner Pos. 2 (4-year) No candidate, currently Stephen Falk
Commissioner Pos. 3 (2-year unexpired) Holly Robinson
Commissioner Pos. 5 (4-year short and full) Chwynyn Vaughan
Cemetery Dist. 8
Commissioner Pos. 1 (2-year unexpired) No candidate, currently Ernie Loreen
Commissioner Pos. 3 (6-year) Pauline deHaan
Point Roberts Water Dist. 4
Commissioner Pos. 3 (6-year) Arthur Reber
Fire Protection Dist. 5
Commissioner Pos. 1 (2-year unexpired) Virginia Lester
Commissioner Pos. 2 (4-year unexpired) Raye Newmen
Commissioner Pos. 3 (6-year) Pat Harper
Blaine School Dist.
Director, Dist. 1 (4-year) Todd Nunamaker, currently John Freal
Director, Dist. 2 (4-year) Todd Berge, challengers Dougal Thomas and Prudence Welch
Director, Dist. 4 (4-year) Charles Gibson, challengers Katie Smith and Tana Perkins Reneau
Port of Bellingham
Commissioner Dist. 3 (4-year) Robert (Bobby) Briscoe, challenger Anthony Distefano
Whatcom County Council Dist. 5
Council Dist. 5 (4-year) Natalie McClendon, Ben Elenbaas, Jaime Arnett
Former county councilmember Barbara Brenner (Dist. 4) withdrew on May 16.
County Council At-Large Pos. B (4-year) Carol Frazey, Bill LaFreniere, Brett Bonner, David Ramirez
Whatcom County
Executive (4-year) Satpal Sidhu, Karen Burke, Tony Larsen, Jim Boyle, currently Jack Louws
Assessor (4-year) John Romaker, Rebecca Xczar, currently Keith Willnauer
Auditor (4-year) Diana Bradrick
Sheriff (4-year) Bill Elfo, challenger Joy Gilfilen
Treasurer (4-year) Steve
This listing is extremely confusing. Are all of these positions coming up for election, or are some of them going on to continue their term? Sometimes you list a position as unexpired (as in Stephen Falk) but list in your comments that he will be running unopposed. Elsewhere you say there is no candidate. It is unclear which positions actually have openings coming up in the election and how “unexpired” and terms not listed as “unexpired” are labeled.
Hi. Sorry for any confusion. All of the positions listed are up for election. The terms employed are those used by the county elections office. When a position is labeled unexpired, it means the remaining period left in the original term. The person listed was appointed to the position; appointees need to be confirmed in the following general election. Holly Robinson is an example of that. Stephen Falk filed for position 2 currently held by Dick Williams who is not running for another 6-year term. Falk’s current position (to which he was appointed and needed to be confirmed through an election) has another four years remaining. When a position is described as a short and a full term, it refers to a term that expires at the end of 2019. Technically, the person who was appointed to that position is being confirmed from the time that the general election is certified (about three weeks past the election) to December 31, 2019. That person is also elected to serve the next full term. An example of that situation is Chwynyn Vaughan. Finally, if nobody filed for a position, we note that by writing No Candidate. If one or more people filed for a position, we list their name(s).