FORKS — Mayor Nedra Reed won’t run for a third term in November.
Reed, who was elected to the top Forks city post in 2001 and re-elected in 2005, credited both the City Council and staff with helping her through the past eight years.
“I’ve decided to so something different for a while,” she said Thursday.
“I’m not sure what that is yet.
“There are lots of qualified people in the community who will run and do a good job, I’m sure.”
Reed said she was privileged to have worked with dedicated council members.
“We’ve made some easy decisions and made some tough one ones, but they have been wonderful all the way through.”
Reed said that although there have been some rough times, she has positive memories of her time as mayor.
“I believe — and my faith requires of me — that I have a forgiving spirit, so I have no grudges for any of the things that have happened,” she said.
“I just want the best for the place that I love the most.”
In 2008, a group of Forks citizens filed a recall against Reed, but it failed to make it to ballot after it was heard by Clallam County Superior Court Judge Ken Williams.
Reed said that she and her husband, Phillip, plan to stay in Forks.
“I grew up as a military brat, so I never really had a home to speak of until I came to Forks,” she said, adding that she has lived in the town for about 40 years.
Resources
Reed said she is proud of helping her community keep its resources during her tenure.
“My first year in office, there was a move to close the rivers for steelhead, except for hook-and-release,” she said.
But she said that she fought the measure “all the way to Olympia and won. So our local fishermen can get one native steelhead a year and feed their families with that fish.
“A lot of people still hate me for that, but I was proud to fight for the local fishermen.”
She also remembered a proposal to move the Forks office of the state Department of Social and Health Services to Port Angeles.
“We pitched such a fit that they didn’t do that.”
She said that all four department heads — including City Attorney Rod Fleck, City Treasurer Daniel Leinan, Chief of Police Mike Powell and Public Works Director Dave Zellar — were already in place when she was elected, and she was glad all three would be staying after she leaves.
“The staff has worked very hard to keep what we have in Forks,” she said.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better staff.
“This is a wonderful job and a wonderful community.”
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
