Garrido Announces for District 2 Commissioner’s Seat

A copy of this post appears on the Kitsap Caucus blog.

An addendum was added at the bottom of this post at 6:15 p.m.

Former Kitsap County Commissioner Charlotte Garrido has announced she will run to regain the District 2 seat on the commission she lost to Republican Jan Angel in 2000.

Garrido failed in 2004 in a bid to regain her seat from Angel, who is running for state legislature).

Garrido is running against fellow Democrat Monty Mahan. No republican candidate has yet declared in the race.

A story on her candidacy is posted at kitsapsun.com.

Garrido served as county commissioner from 1997 through 2000. She has been a higher education planner for WSU Kitsap Extension since 2005 and most recently served as consultant for the Kitsap Economic Development Alliance (KEDA) Baccalaureate Research project, documenting the need for a four-year degree program in Kitsap County.

Garrido said she has been considering running for commissioner for some time, but she was preoccupied with her work for the KEDA. Now that the Legislature has appropriated funding to review the KEDA report, Garrido said, she can turn her attention to new pursuits.

Her platform will focus on promoting locally owned businesses and on increasing opportunities for citizens to have input on county government. Garrido said her skills at bringing various interest groups together on issues would serve to the county’s advantage were she elected.

The county’s budget is another priority for Garrido. It informs every decision the commission makes, she said. Garrido is eager to work with the other two commissioners on resolving budget issues.

“I don’t think any one commissioner can do that,” she said. “I think as a team we need to ask the tough questions. … I’m not afraid to make the tough decisions after getting answers to the tough questions.”

Garrido declined to say what sets her apart from Mahan.

“I think it’s always positive for voters to have choices,” she said. “My thought is that it’s really important that we have many public forums so people can see and hear from both of us and have a chance to make informed decisions.”

So, the question remains (as I said in a recent post) where are the Republicans in this race?

Addendum 6 p.m.: Jack Hamilton, Kitsap County Republican Party chairman is still holding his cards close to his vest. If the party has anyone specific in mind to challenge the Democrats for Angel’s seat, Hamilton’s not talking.
“We have every intent of having a viable candidate,” he said. “If there’s a race out there, we’re recruiting.”

Carl Olson, Kitsap County Democratic Party chairman, was also noncommittal when asked how the addition of another Democrat to the race could play out for the party. At last night’s meeting, Kitsap Dem’s approved Mahan’s candidacy, giving him access to the party’s contact list for use in seeking endorsements. According to party rules, they could approve other candidates, as well, and will presumably approve Garrido if she asks, Olson said.
Olson was careful not to appear to personally endorse one candidate over the other.
“We now have two competent candidates,” he said. “It would probably be to the benefit of the voters to have two qualified candidates from which to choose.”