PORT ANGELES — The Clallam County Democratic Party will host a town hall meeting with County Commissioner Mike Chapman on Jan. 26.
The meeting also will include an annual State of the Party update from county party Chairman Matthew Randazzo.
The event, which will be free and open to the public, will be at 6 p.m. at the Port Angeles City Council chambers, 321 E. Fifth St., Port Angeles.
Chapman has represented Clallam County District 2 since 2000.
He ran as a Republican to win his first two terms but lost the county GOP organization’s support for endorsing Democrat Steve Tharinger, who was then his colleague on the county commission in 2007.
Chapman ran as an independent in the 2008 election.
“The Democratic Party invites the public to join us for our first general party meeting of the year at the Port Angeles City Council chambers,” Randazzo said.
“After I give a quick update on what the party is up to, I’ll introduce my good friend Commissioner Mike Chapman and moderate a town hall with questions and answers from the audience.”
Randazzo said Chapman “has been an integral member of a superb team of county commissioners over the past 11 years, and with the election of Republican Jim McEntire, he is generally considered to be the swing vote on the board going forward.”
The third county commissioner, Mike Doherty, is a Democrat.
“I’m sure local Democrats will have plenty of very good questions for the commissioner about how the county government can best overcome the challenges it faces,” Randazzo said.
McEntire was elected in November to fill the seat vacated by Tharinger, who did not seek re-election, saying he wanted to focus on his duties as a representative of the 24th District in the state Legislature.
The 24th District covers Clallam and Jefferson counties and part of Grays Harbor County.