CANDIDATE FORUM LONG ON GRIPES, SHORT ON ANSWERS

by Scott Hogenson

The big thing that emerged from Sunday’s Honesty Forum in Port Ludlow, where all four candidates for the open seat on the Jefferson County Board of Commissioners appeared on the same stage, was that most of them are better at griping about problems than solving them. 

L to R:  Greg Brotherton, Jon Cooke, Craig Durgan, Ryan McAllister

Shared concerns are invaluable in connecting politicians with voters. But most people already know what the problems are. We don’t need to be told that jobs, growing the tax base, and housing are problems. What voters want are concrete solutions, which were in short supply Sunday.

Greg Brotherton (D) said he wants to “make it easier to build houses and businesses.” But he then confessed, “I don’t want to be a disruptor” on the Board of County Commissioners. How does one go about transforming an arcane system of regulations, ordinances, codes and other impediments to growth without being disruptive? A prerequisite for reversing an entrenched bureaucracy is being disruptive, which Brotherton wishes not to be. 

Ryan McAllister (D) opined, “our biggest export is young people,” after explaining that he opposes the Pleasant Harbor Master Planned Resort because it, “does not reflect the character of our rural county.” I do not know why young people are leaving Jefferson County but it’s probably not because of plans to build a resort in Brinnon. A big box store like Home Depot or WalMart may not reflect the character of the county but it would offer young people good paying jobs and opportunities for career advancement.  

The rub, according to McAllister, is that “you have the people that grew up here, lifelong Jefferson County residents, who want to get out of the county,” competing with the interests of, “people like me, who moved here when I was a teenager with my wife.” Perhaps that's true, but it raises the question whether we want to run the county in the interests of aging transplants rather than native residents. 

Craig Durgan (D) did a better job of speaking in a straight line, focusing much of his remarks on how we, “desperately need to bring businesses to Jefferson County,” particularly around Port Hadlock. He offered some solutions. Unfortunately, Durgan has branding and credibility problems. After several unsuccessful campaigns in recent years, first as a Republican and later as an Independent, Durgan told me he became a Democrat on May 19. 

He said after the forum that he’s preparing to reach out to organized labor to help fund his campaign. He mentioned the Olympic Peninsula Building Trades Council as a potential donor.  Durgan told me this after declaring during the forum that he supports getting outside-money out of politics. When I asked how one squares opposition to outside money in politics with asking unions for campaign cash, Durgan was succinct. “It’s the reality,” he said. 

Jon Cooke (R) managed to make his points in a linear fashion and to good effect. His positions are simple; he wants to grow the county’s tax base through business expansion by relaxing codes and regulations. Cooke described himself as a man who, “works better with people than deciding what size rock to use for a road.” In that statement, Cooke offered his vision of governing. He knows that focusing on the minutiae of bureaucracy is a fool’s errand and he won’t sweat the small stuff. 

As a political newcomer, Cooke lacks the polish of his competitors.  What he lacks in slickness he makes up for in command of the issues, clearly articulating a solution for the major obstacle to growth. “The biggest area would be in the Hadlock area, getting the sewer in, and then building up around that," Cooke said.

Compare this patently un-sexy issue with the Internet. McAllister and Brotherton are making high-speed Internet a core issue in their campaigns, which aligns with the strategy of congressional Democrats who want to use Internet de-regulation as a wedge issue in the midterm elections. McAllister lists high speed Internet as one of his three main objectives, while Brotherton claimed, “rural Internet creates jobs.” 

But which is a higher priority, Internet or sewers? “I wouldn’t label one or the other more important,” said Brotherton after the forum. Fast Internet is a wonderful thing, but Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs probably puts a higher premium on a place to go to the bathroom and somewhere to flush it than streaming Netflix without buffering. I’d be curious to see who volunteers to pitch a new business to locate in Jefferson County by explaining, “You have to use composting toilets because we can’t get a sewer project through.  But we have Internet!” 

Politicians know they must defend everything they say so it’s unsurprising most aren’t yet offering concrete solutions. They’re not likely to take that step unless forced into it. Only when Jefferson County voters demand more than talking points will we begin to get sensible answers to problems facing the county. 

Scott Hogenson is a resident of Jefferson County.

(Editor’s note:  Scott Hogenson has a long list of accomplishments and affiliations. We are honored to have him as a contributor. In the interest of disclosure, we provide this partial bio:  Scott Hogenson is president of Hogenson Communications, LLC, a public relations consultancy. He moved to Jefferson County in 2017 after 25 years in Washington, DC, where he worked on four presidential campaigns as a senior member of the Republican National Committee Press Office. He is also a contributor to the Jodi Wilke for State Representative campaign.  He has been a member of the academic staff at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he lectured in the School of Journalism and served as managing editor for the Wisconsin Public Radio News Network. Scott has also been a contributing editor for National Public Radio in Washington, D.C., a broadcast editor for United Press International, and a news director for radio stations in Virginia and Texas.  The photo used above appeared on the McAllister campaign Facebook page.)