County Commissioners set policy and adopt budgets for their counties. They supervise County departments either directly or, when there is a County Administrator, indirectly. Counties provide a wide range of important public services, from managing elections to maintaining roads. To qualify, a candidate must be a U.S. citizen, a registered voter, a resident of the district for at least a year prior to the General Election, and 18 years of age or older.Term: 4 years. This position is nonpartisan.Both candidates sat for interviews with the League of Women Voters. The recordings may be found here: Peter Huhtala: https://reflect-tvctv.cablecast.tv/store-5/28313-Video-Voters-Guide-Pe-v2/vod.mp4Jason Snider: https://reflect-tvctv.cablecast.tv/store-5/28314-Video-Voters-Guide-Ja-v1/vod.mp4
Campaign Phone (public)
503-468-8038
Town Where You Live
Tigard, Oregon
Your Experience/Qualifications
Served as a County Commissioner in Clatsop County from 2011 to 2015
County
Washington
Term
Four years
Term Expires
01/01/2029
Affordable Housing. With partners (Metro, Housing Authority), the County should continue to seek opportunities for in-fill construction and refurbishing, and offer for low rents and possibly sales
Homelessness: Use all approaches that have known success, with more one-on-one outreach. Consider villages developed by homeless people with assistance.
Substance Abuse and Addiction: Bring de-tox center on line; and contract with a wide range of addiction treatment systems. Require treatment or risk incarceration. Arrest people using drugs in public, but monitor for equity.
I've been a County Commissioner. I'm known for my ability to mediate in difficult situations. I understand the role of policy creators. I listen to those that want to communicate with me.
Take the broad view to move toward connecting transit with many types of urban housing. Encourage residences made available near jobs rather than isolated in rural areas. Cooperate with Metro and the housing authority.
Contact Phone
503-810-0269
Campaign Phone (public)
503-810-0269
Town Where You Live
Tigard, Oregon
Your Experience/Qualifications
I bring more than two decades of public service and 10 years of recent experience as an elected official for the City of Tigard. I served as a City Councilor, Council President, and most recently as Mayor of Tigard from 2019 to 2022. Professionally, I am a paramedic by clinical training and have served in various leadership roles at Kaiser Permanente since 2003. I am currently the Regional Practice Director for the General Surgery, Plastic Surgery, and Preoperative Medicine Departments.
County
Washington
Term
4 Years
1. Public safety
2. Affordable housing (see answer to question 3)
3. Youth mental health
On public safety, I want to maintain strong and effective public safety system to protect neighborhood livability and vibrant business community. The county just released a white paper on this topic that was presented to the county commission in January. We need to start by address the service and funding gaps described in this white paper. The primary gaps are in the jail, community corrections, district attorney, public defenders, court system, and mental health.
For youth mental health, I will push the county to make investments in Behavioral Health by coordinating a regional approach partnering with all cities and all school districts districts.
I served a decade as a Tigard elected official, most recently as Mayor from 2019 to 2022. Professionally I am the Regional Practice Director for the three surgical departments at Kaiser Permanente.
I bring the following skills and qualities as a leader:
- great listener
- uses ingenuity/creativity to solve complex/difficult problems
- clearly communicate a vision that unifies others towards a common purpose
- strong analytical skills, use data to evaluate problems/solutions
- can get the best out of others by partnering and mentoring
- can balance the triad of: results, process, and relationships relationships (all three must be in harmony)
- makes the best decisions to maximize results for the most people, even when it is unpopular
I plan to address the lack of affordable housing supply by using many of the tactics I led with as Mayor of Tigard to address the same challenge. This would include:
- implementing form based (lean) building codes in town centers
- focusing density and development in town centers that can be well served by transit, creating urban pocket parks, and providing a variety of housing types
- aggressively implementing middle housing reforms that are practical for builders and developers
- using modest public resources and other public incentives to leverage the development of more regulated deeply affordable housing (less than 30% median area income)
