SEQUIM – After months of pestering and speculation from political observers, after deciding he fiercely wanted to run for Clallam County commissioner and after listing problems he’d tackle in office, Sequim Mayor Walt Schubert did the opposite of what many predicted.
Schubert announced Thursday afternoon he will not run against incumbent Commissioner Steve Tharinger, the Democrat from Dungeness.
“This was very emotional for me, a very difficult decision to make,” said Schubert, 67, who has served on the Sequim City Council for seven years, five of them as mayor of the city of 5,030.
“I’ll certainly work with the mayor on issues,” said Tharinger, who declared his bid for re-election earlier this week.
“Walt has worked hard for the city of Sequim.”
Schubert has said Clallam County’s three commissioners have shown a lack of leadership in several areas, sewer construction and planning for expansion of Battelle’s Marine Research Operations laboratory among them.
“There’s nothing I want to do more, besides take care of my family, than this,” he said, referring to a run for commissioner.
“But I was elected to a four-year term,” on the Sequim City Council, and that term doesn’t expire until 2009.
So, Schubert said, his work there must take precedence.
