City Of Camas

Veteran Camas councilman named mayor

CAMAS — The Camas City Council unanimously appointed Mayor Pro Tem Scott Higgins as the city’s new mayor during a special meeting Monday night.

Prior to Monday night, Higgins served as Camas’ acting mayor following former mayor Paul Dennis’ June 1 resignation to head the Camas-Washougal Economic Development Association.

Higgins, 39, and Kim Seaton Thies, a 66-year-old retired bookkeeper with no elected office experience, were the only applicants for mayor of Clark County’s second-largest city with about 19,350 residents.

The Camas City Council named Higgins as the new full-time mayor after listening to both candidates answer a series of job-related questions and then discussing their qualifications in executive session. The appointment lasts until Dec. 31.

“I’m honored and I’m excited,” Higgins said after being sworn in. “I believe I’m the right man for the job and I’m looking forward to hitting the ground running.”

Preparing for election

Higgins will seek a four-year term during this November’s election when he runs against engineer Ken Kakuk, who filed earlier this spring.

Higgins resigned his council seat after his appointment as mayor became official. The city will begin seeking his replacement immediately, officials said.

Higgins’ combination of collaborative skills and experience made him an attractive choice Monday night, Councilman Don Chaney said. Chaney added council members took pains to remain neutral during the selection process despite their previous working relationship with Higgins, who was first elected to the city council in 2002.

“Scott brings long-standing experience as a council member and a citizen of Camas,” Chaney said.

The decision came down to two issues for Chaney: Who would best serve as the face of Camas to residents, neighboring communities and businesses, and who would best serve as an employer.

Council members asked candidates five standard questions: how they would describe their leadership styles; what they perceived the city’s three biggest challenges over the next five years; what changes they would make in their first 100 days; what regional issues had they taken particular interest in; and why they should be mayor in 60 seconds or less.

Higgins appeared composed as he answered the council’s questions. He noted he “already had to make tough calls that were mentally grueling and emotionally draining” while serving as acting mayor. After the meeting, he said the tough calls related to a personnel issue.

Camas Mayor Paul Dennis will resign to lead east Clark County ...

Camas Mayor Paul Dennis will resign his office to lead an economic development group forming in east Clark County.

The Camas-Washougal Economic Development Association will be funded in part by the city of Camas, as well as Washougal and the Port of Camas-Washougal . Cascade Planning Group, where Dennis is principal, will provide economic development services and Dennis will serve as economic development director.

Dennis, a planner and economic development consultant, was elected mayor in 2003. He served on the City Council for six years before that. He said he applied for the position because it's a professional opportunity that he might not have again.

“This is an opportunity to use what I’ve learned as mayor and be able to use the skillset I've built over a 21-year career and be able to apply it directly in the community where I live,” he said. “The more I thought about it, the more I realized this is a unique opportunity that doesn't come around that often.”

Dennis said he and the city stepped back from the planning process for the group after he was approached about applying. His firm was one of three interviewed last week by a panel assembled by the port, which is the lead agency.

“We thought it was in everyone's best interest to make sure it was an open process and a fair process for anyone applying,” he said.

The contract hasn’t been finalized, port Executive Director David Ripp said, but the port has set an annual budget for the association at $175,000. The three jurisdictions have so far set aside $200,000 for the organization, with $100,000 coming from the port and $50,000 from each of the cities.
   
The association will focus on recruiting and retaining businesses in the eastern part of the county. It will partner with the Columbia River Economic Development Council , a county-wide economic development agency. E.D. Hovee & Company of Vancouver will provide support services.

The Camas and Washougal city councils and port officials will meet together May 23 to discuss an interlocal agreement, which the three agencies are expected to approve in the first week of June. Dennis starts the new job once the agreements are in place.

Dennis hasn't formally set a resignation date, but said it would be at the end of May or early in June.

Mayor Pro Tem Scott Higgins will fill in until the council appoints a replacement.

City of Camas comprehensive plan, public review document, April 18, 1994

The Pacific reporter

Camas

The Encyclopaedia Britannica, a dictionary of arts, sciences, and general literature

The Encyclopædia britannica, a dictionary of arts, sciences, and general literature ; the R.S. Peale reprint, with new maps and original American articles