PORT TOWNSEND — Candidates for the Jefferson County commission, Democrat Greg Brotherton and Republican Jon Cooke, discussed life experiences and goals during a candidate forum.
Held at the Port Townsend Community Center, the Wednesday forum was hosted by the League of Women Voters and the American Association of University Women.
The two candidates, both Quilcene residents, are vying for the District 3 seat on the Jefferson County commission vacated by Democrat Kathleen Kler who is not seeking reelection.
Ballots for the Nov. 6 general election were mailed onWednesday.
The contest will be countywide, with all registered voters in the county voting regardless of their district.
Brotherton, 46, said he helped his family re-open the Quilcene County Store and managed it for three years before he opened Sea Change Cannabis, another village store, and Disco Bay Detour in Discovery Bay. He served four years on the Quilcene School Board.
“I’ve met with nearly all the electeds and most of the appointeds. I’m beginning to see some of the inefficiencies,” Brotherton said.
”The time on the School Board gave me a lot of insight into the way policies and these bureaucracies function,” he continued.
“I’m looking to streamline things in the county that can increase our efficiencies. I want to work on our codes and how we can make it easier to build houses and businesses in Jefferson County.
Jon Cooke, 60, is the chairman of the Jefferson County Republican Party. He works as a custodian and substitute teacher.
Cooke said District 3 is very different from District 1 and that many in District 3 — an area that includes the southern part of East Jefferson County and the West End — feel disenfranchised.
“District 3 is struggling,” Cooke said. “They don’t feel served. … The idea of we will all combine, and so what’s best for the other districts isn’t happening. Brinnon feels left behind. I will represent the people.
The candidates agreed on the need for the Port Hadlock Wastewater System, but not how to fund it.
“The sewer should be paid by a LID (local improvement district),” Cooke said. “Our economy is depending on that sewer. It has us in a stranglehold. Another way are grants to help our infrastructure fund. Half of it goes into the sewer system. That won’t pay for it.”
Said Brotherton: “Sewer infrastructure is a critical need in the county. We are working on it. I met with the director of public works the other day and according to him they built the best plan for $32 million.
“Now they are building the cheaper plan, looking at pressurized versus gravity systems. We need to pursue that. This is not going to be do it with a LID. A sewer isn’t an economic driver. ”
Both candidates had opinions on the county’s draft Commercial Gun Range Draft Ordinance.
“I want a robust ordinance,” Brotherton said. “The Sportsmen Club [Jefferson County Sportsmen’s Association] is valuable. As I look at it, they have six months to write a plan. They’d have six months to fix life-threatening issues.
“We can’t grandfather in the old organization but there are lots of things that we can do to keep it open and get a strong ordinance that protects neighbors.
“Military training is not appropriate to the environment,” he added, apparently referring to Joe D’Amico’s plans for a shooting facility near Tarboo Lake.
“It [Sportsmen’s Association] will be a commercial shooting range because they charge membership,” Cooke said. “They will have a year to get up to code. The problem is that not just putting out a plan as to what they are going to do. It’s reorganizing the whole thing so it has baffles which would be great for a new range.
“Are we going to put onerous restrictions on the range just to cover the opening of new ranges? If the county wants it done, they can help the membership pay for it. I live less than two miles from the new proposed range. I don’t want military blasts going off there.”
During a discussion about Initiative 1639, a statewide gun control measure on the Nov. 6 ballot, Cooke described being shot as a child.
”When I was in the ninth grade I was shot in the head with a 0.22,” he said. “I was with my brother and we were plinking. My brother touched an electric fence, it shocked him and he dropped the gun and it went off and it hit me.
“Today, my parents would be charged with a Class C felony because the gun wasn’t locked up. My brother would be charged because he was underage and had this gun. A year later for Christmas, my parents bought me a semi-automatic 0.22.
“I’m against this initiative. We need some restrictions on certain things, but this is not the way to do it.”
Brotherton related a personal story as well.
“l live in the county and I went to pick up my daughter at a friend’s house where she was playing with a AR 15,” he said. “It was the 11-year old brother’s. That to me was unacceptable. She doesn’t go over there anymore.
“I support background checks,” Brotherton said. “In general, I support keeping guns out of the hands of people who are going to be dangerous with them.”
In his closing remarks, Cooke said he has a bachelor’s degree in agriculture.
“We lived on a farm. We had a river running though our farm. We could go fishing, we could go hunting. I know country life,” Cooke said.
“We aren’t people from the east side coming in to help these backwards people learn how to live. It is really important for me to be a voice for those people, our neighbors and friends. We need that different voice that will bring a broader perspective.
“I would probably be voted down two votes to one every time, but that’s OK,” he added. “At least that voice from the third district is there. I’m a quiet leader. I listen to people. We need people in the middle.”
Brotherton described his experience as broad, encompassing a wide range of life experiences.
“I grew up in the suburbs, I’ve lived in the city and I lived in South Korea for a couple years teaching English. I’ve lived all over,” he said.
“I’ve been ‘the other’ by my own choice. I have empathy for all the residents in the county, even if we don’t start at the same place. I want to listen and represent all the residents of Jefferson County. I’ve got the energy. In 2017, I won Young Professional of the Year in Jefferson County.
“The joke on that is that in Jefferson County, I’m considered young.”
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Jefferson County Editor/Reporter Jeannie McMacken can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jmcmacken@peninsuladailynews.com.
