Five candidates have filed for the Position 1 Grays Harbor County Commissioner seat, which will be left vacant as current Commissioner Wes Cormier, who filed as a Republican, tries to unseat Democrat State Sen. Dean Takko in the 19th Legislative District.

Among the candidates are a current mayor, a longtime real estate agent, a prior county commissioner candidate, a state occupational health and safety employee, and a former business executive turned chiropractor.

The top two candidates in the primary will advance to the general election. Voters should start getting ballots in the mail later this week. The district includes the eastern portion of the county. Only voters living in the district, vote in the primary, but the two they advance will face all the county voters in the fall for a spot on the full three-person commission.

The Daily World spoke with all five candidates. They appear below in random order.

Jill Warne

“The main thing that pushed me into this is the needle exchange program, which isn’t an exchange, it’s a handout enabling addicts and supplying the dealers,” said Jill Warne, running as a Republican.

“If we stop enabling them and get them the services they need instead that would be a big start,” said Warne. She said she understands it’s difficult for an addict to get clean, “but on the other hand, it’s tough love, like we tell parents. We’re not helping them by enabling them.”

A 1981 graduate of Montesano High School, she’s worked in the real estate field for more than 30 years. When she’s not working she’s hanging out with her four kids and five grandkids, and has had horses since she got her first pony at age 5.

Her real estate experience has shown her the importance of private property rights in regard to economic development.

“We need to make it easier for people to do what they want with their property and for businesses to come here,” said Warne. “The county should be overseeing and guiding, not so much policing” by imposing fines and more regulations.

On her campaign page, she said she intends to start a committee made up of private sector property interests to make it easier for property owners to develop their own land and encourage expanded housing.

Get more information on Warne’s campaign at friendsforjill.com.

Jack Dwyer

“Right now our county, state and country are facing big challenges, in particular with the COVID-19 crisis and the economic fallout from that crisis,” said Dwyer. “I believe our county needs someone right now with great experience as an executive who is fully prepared to lead the county right now.”

Dwyer has held several executive positions, including operations, payroll, management, and overseeing the planning, building and refurbishing of “multimillion dollar facilities.” In 2003, he shifted gears and went to chiropractic school, setting up shop in Montesano, which he has “scaled back” and is now focused on his three-generation household and a shot at county commissioner.

As for the needle exchange, Dwyer said, “There is no question about the public health benefit to the needle exchange program. It’s not just exchanging needles.” He said homelessness isn’t just about drug addiction, it can involve alcohol, mental health issues, and include victims of the current economic crisis amplified by COVID-19 restrictions.

“Ending the program would do absolutely nothing to help us recover from homelessness,” he said. “It truly is an essential service of our public health department.”

Dwyer is running as an Independent who believes his health care experience will pay off in the wake of a pandemic.

“In my head I really believe we need somebody with health care experience on that board,” he said. “That board right now is making critical decisions for the health, welfare and economy of the county, and we need to be able to communicate with public health in the same language and make informed decisions for our health and welfare.”

As for the economy, “We have really good people here in the county who are hard workers, diligent, who have been through a lot so they’re strong,” said Dwyer. “Theyr’e ready to work and there’s no reason we can’t create a whole new economic boom, based on technology. We already have fiber optics, we have empty buildings and people ready to be retrained and re-educated who are willing and ready to go.”

For more information on Dwyer and his campaign visit https://jdwyerforghcc.com/.

Chris Miller

Miller, retired military and an employee of state Department of Labor and Industries who resides in McCleary, said one issue that made him want to run for the office was the regional jail facility the county has been looking at creating in conjunction with Mason County.

“There was a kind of lack of transparency, not including the city in that process while trying to acquire the land for it,” he said.

He believes the county can do more to promote job growth in a way that keeps local workers local. That would include a more proactive stance on attracting businesses to the region for economic and job growth.

Miller said he understands the divisive nature of the county’s needle exchange program but can see arguments both for and against it.

“I’d be more for the needle exchange if providing the needles was reducing the number of needles we’re finding in the parks,” he said. “That’s a challenging one. I don’t want to contribute to people who have drug problems but at the same time if we don’t help out in some way” it can affect the overall public health of the county.

Miller is running with no party preference listed. He said his last five years working in occupational health and safety has shown him the importance of working with all stakeholders on issues “trying to find common groundwork” to come up with workable solutions. “I’ve never been for all this or all that,” he said. “It never works cutting off part of the group.”

The county can also do more to help with the homeless issue, in Aberdeen and beyond, he said. Recent efforts by the City of Aberdeen to get the county to help chip in on its homeless shelter efforts have fallen flat.

“I got the impression it seems like they’re not trying to help out in any way,” said Miller. “All the services are there (in Aberdeen) so naturally a good majority of the homeless will be there, why aren’t they trying to help out to find a permanent solution? If we can’t find a permanent solution, how do we expect them to get the services they need and gain employment?”

Miller has a campaign Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/chrismiller4GH/.

Jamie Nichols

The Grays Harbor Democratic Central Committee Chair, Nichols is running as a Democrat, as she did in her bid for the seat in 2016.

“I want to bring some sort of connection with our neighbors and our politicians and more transparent elected officials that have the time to say, ‘Hey, what’s going on, what are your concerns?’” said Nichols. “It doesn’t matter what party you’re part of, every concern in Grays Harbor County needs to be addressed.”

Discussing the county needle exchange, she brought up a recent meeting where it was shown that counties are responsible for control of prevention of infectious diseases within the jurisdiction of the local health department.

“So I don’t necessarily like the needle exchange, but what it comes down to is it is a public health issue and if we aren’t following state (law) the county is looking at a lawsuit. Unfortunately, that’s an issue that comes up, people think a commissioner has a lot more control, which isn’t always necessarily the truth, there are still legalities you have to follow.”

Then there’s the safety of first responders, fire and police. “They are out there every day protecting our community and they do not need to be put at risk any more than they already are with dirty needles.”

Nichols believes the issue of homelessness “is a multi-faceted issue. The unemployment rate is very high, we need affordable housing, and then there is the drug problem within the community, and each one of these issues needs to be addressed in its own way. There are so many parts to the homeless issue, I don’t think it should be put all on the back of Grays Harbor and Aberdeen alone, it needs to be addressed on the state and federal level as well.”

Nichols is a 36-year-old stay at home mom of two who sits on many local boards, including the Grays Harbor Historical Seaport board for the last two years and said she was part of the outreach by the Seaport that secured $325,000 in funds from the Legislature to start building demolition and environmental cleanup of the home of the tall ship Lady Washington.

Find out more about Nichols at friendsofjamie.com.

Jim Sorensen

The Mayor of Elma started his second term in that office this year, but announced some time ago he wasn’t going to seek a third. “I already thought it was a good stepping stone, from Mayor to County Commissioner,” he said.

His experience as mayor he believes puts him in good position to enter the commission ready to go.

“I already work with the commission on the e911 Board and Transit Board, and have experience with the legislative and executive layers of government,” said Sorensen. “And my experience with budgets and working with bringing business into Elma has been very beneficial.”

During his tenure as mayor of Elma, he said the city has done very well budget-wise, growing from almost no reserves to “almost eight months’ in the bank.” He said the key to growth of revenue in the county budget is to bring more business into the county.

“I go into governance with a very business friendly perspective,” said Sorensen, who said he would continue to reach out to businesses large and small, untapped opportunities, to bolster the county’s economy.

To attract business, there needs to be increased access to housing at all levels, said Sorensen,who stated no party preference when he filed for the office.

“We need to make sure that our regulations aren’t stifling housing growth,” he said. “And that’s something the commissioners can work on.”

His work with the Coastal Community Action Program “is finding housing so I have first-hand information on where our housing needs are, and I’ve been working with the (program’s) housing pipeline bringing in county, public and private stakeholders to work on bringing in more housing for the county. It’s essential to bring businesses in.”

Sorensen said he doesn’t have a strong opinion one way or the other about the needle exchange program. “It’s more of a public health position. I believe it saves Harborites money by taking people who might be in the hospital due to infections and saving those bed spaces for others. The public health cost alone would be a lot more than what we’re putting out on the program.”

He said there’s no one answer to the issue of homelessness in the county, but believes he’s in a good position to work with the City of Aberdeen to address the many solutions needed. “We’re talking about 400 homeless people out there who need housing in Grays Harbor County,” he said. “People become homeless for many reasons, not just one reason. It could be a lost job, addiction, mental illness, domestic violence, there’s not one solution, we need to have multi-pronged solutions to fight that.”

Learn more about Sorensen at jimforghc.org.