Everything was wrong—apparently. The actions of the majority of Clark County councilors in the last four months, spearheaded by Chairman Marc Boldt, seem nearly incomprehensible in their sweeping repudiation of everything that the previous three-member board had accomplished. In any change of political leadership, one would expect that a different set of priorities would drive a different emphasis on the agenda. This seems to be more than that, so one wonders if there’s one or more ulterior motives behind the apparently spiteful approach the current establishment county councilors have taken.
A little digging has revealed to us at ClarkCounty.info that this sweeping change isn’t about a vision of how to best govern Clark County. This is personal.
Marc Boldt lost his position as County Commissioner to David Madore in 2012. The crux of the election pivoted on Boldt’s unquestioning support of the Columbia River Crossing (CRC) bridge boondoggle and the liberal and self-interested Vancouver establishment. The loss was devastating to Boldt, who is reported to have shed tears in his last day on the job. But surely all of this current spite doesn’t stem from this four year old defeat or now sitting as co-counsel to the very man who defeated him in 2012? Turns out there’s more to the story.
In 2012 Clark County Commissioner Marc Boldt was a member of the governing board of the Southwest Washington Behavioral Health Regional Support Network (RSN). When he lost his bid for reelection to the county commissioner position, one of his last acts on the RSN board was to create a new position, that of Government Affairs Officer, ostensibly to coordinate and ensure regulatory compliance with the National Institute of Health and other associated federal and state alphabet agencies. Because of the gravitas of this position, it came with a sweet six-figure annual compensation. Commissioner Steve Stuart, a Democrat, who also cried at Boldt’s departure according to the Columbian, was primed to take Boldt’s place on the RSN governing board and exert his influence there to hire Boldt into the tailor-made position that he had been influential in creating. Interestingly, any videos/recordings of the RSN meetings where this position was promoted and approved were conveniently lost.
When the new County Commissioners took over in early 2013, one key duty was to determine who would sit on certain local boards and commissions. Commissioner Stuart overplayed his hand and seemed too eager to sit on this RSN board. Commissioners David Madore and Tom Mielke had become aware of this self-serving collusion for what it was, and they made sure that Madore took Boldt’s place on the RSN board, foiling the apparent plans for Boldt’s golden parachute. The bogus, unnecessary position of Government Affairs Officer was never filled, and in fact was formally canceled as unnecessary by the new RSN board. Boldt’s self-serving agenda was foiled, costing him a six-figure job that was essentially a seat-warming position of no consequence. Is it any wonder that he has a personal vendetta to settle with Madore? Meanwhile the citizens were spared more fraud and wasted tax dollars.
Observers need to keep these sorts of things in mind when analyzing the actions of crony politicians. Our mission at ClarkCounty.info is to illuminate that which corrupt politicians would prefer stays in the dark, and remind us of that which they prefer we forget.