PORT ANGELES – Candidates for Clallam County commissioner hammered familiar anvils Tuesday in a campaign face-off before the Port Angeles Business Association.
Incumbent Steve Tharinger, D-Dungeness, repeated his pride in the teamwork shown by commissioners and other county elected officials.
Challenger Bob Forde, a Sequim Republican, reprised his call for less government and lower taxes.
The candidates spoke at the association’s weekly breakfast meeting at Joshua’s Restaurant in Port Angeles.
“My opponent likes the machinery and combines of government,” Forde said. “Government seems to be his answer.
“I believe people are the answer.”
Countered Tharinger, who is seeking his third four-year term, “We’ve done a pretty good job for you.”
He cited Clallam’s debt-free status, rare among Washington counties, and a process that oversaw grant-funded programs with performance measures and benchmarks.
