Stark choice
Norquist, Ferrell face off in a race that could tilt the board of Cowlitz County commissioners even further to the right
This story had been corrected to fix an error describing the rate and cost of the county’s mental health tax.
Voters have a clear choice in candidates for one of two Cowlitz County commissioner seats on the November ballot.
Longview Democrat Amy Norquist and Longview Republican Steve Ferrell are contending for the seat representing Commissioner District 2, which basically covers Longview. The vote will be countywide.
They are vying to replace Longview Republican Dennis Weber, who is not seeking re-election.
The election could turn the three-member board of commissioners — now dominated by conservatives Arne Mortensen and Rick Dahl — even further to the right.
They’ve put the financial footing of drug court and other substance abuse programs in jeopardy. They rejected funding for Longview’s Hope Village program. The adopted a “medical freedom” resolution that the medical community said is riddled with misinformation. They also rejected state funding to hire a sixth Superior Court Judge, even questioning the integrity of the court system.
Weber is a moderate who often votes in the minority. Ferrell’s outlook is far more in keeping with Dahl and Mortensen’s than Weber’s. Mortensen also is stepping down, and two Kalama Republicans — Mortensen--backed Steve Rader and Mayor Mike Reuter — are facing off for the District 1 seat that Mortensen has held eight years.
Ferrell, 71, is a lifelong Cowlitz County resident whose family ran the Ferrell Lumber store on California Way in Longview for decades. He worked 36 years at the former Longview Fibre Co. pulp and paper mill, rising from laborer to electrician and eventually to a mill supervisory role and union leadership.
He’s a staunch conservative and one of the leaders of the 4-Cs (Concerned Citizens of Cowlitz County) political group that publishes the right-leaning “Watchdog of Cowlitz County” newsletter and that supported the controversial firing of Longview City Manager Kris Swanson in March. He’s a skeptic when it comes to spending money on social causes.
He cuts a grandfatherly, western figure with a white beard and ever-present Stetson-style cowboy hat.
His preoccupations are with protecting property rights, and he opposes government health mandates. He’s been a frequent attendee at commissioners meetings for three years and served a single, six-year term as a Cowlitz PUD commissioner in the 1980s.
Ferrell is a skeptic of government; Norquist believes government can work change through good planning and collaboration.
Norquist, 61, grew up in Longview and is the daughter of the late physician, Stan Norquist. She graduated from R.A. Long High School, where she starred in track and basketball. She earned a history degree from Stanford University and a master’s in public administration from Cal State.
In 2006 she started a New York City-based consulting/contracting company called Greensulate, through which she worked and consulted on government and private projects across the nation.
Norquist has 25 years of leadership experience raising money for nonprofit organizations, including Earthjustice, the environmental group, and Mother Jones, the progressive-leaning publication. Her connections to those groups have led the Watchdog publication to portray her as too liberal. Norquist, who calls herself a ”rational Democrat,” says she had “zero” policy making role with these organizations, though she defends Mother Jones for its assiduous fact-check policy.
She moved to Longview in 2022 to care for her ailing mother, and she chose to remain after her mom died. Returning here “is the best thing I’ve ever done,” she said. “I love Cowlitz County.”
But the community needs better planning, cooperation and attitude to take advantage of its assets and untapped potential and to attract "cool,” world class companies. Her strengths, she said, are building relationships and planning, and one of her biggest goals is to improve the county’s poor health.
Norquist and Ferrell emerged from a crowded field of primary election candidates to face each other in the general election.
As of the last report, Norquist’s campaign had raised $35,000,— $4,200 through loans and nearly $21,000 from individuals — and had just short of $9,700 left after expenses. Ferrell had raised nearly $20,300 — including $5,000 from himself — and had $6,300 remaining.
The two participated in the Cowlitz Civil Dialogue Project candidate debate series at Lower Columbia College Wednesday night. They exchanged no real sharp barbs, but Norquist gave everyone a chuckle when candidates were given permission to ask each other a question:
“Steve, will you take your hat off?” she asked, playfully.
As the audience guffawed, Ferrell lifted the brimmed hat off his bald head.
Here is a summary of some of the debate, edited for brevity and clarity.
What makes you qualified to run an operation as large as Cowlitz County government, which has a $250 million budget, more than 500 workers, 33 separate departments, has experienced a lot of turnover in senior management and is facing significant budgeting challenges?
Ferrell: He noted his six years of service as a commissioner at the Cowlitz PUD in the mid 1980s gave him experience with $100 million dollar budgets. He noted that he currently serves on the PUD’s rate advisory committee, which recently recommended a 5% rate increase to cover a budget deficit. The utility’s budget now is about $245 million, he said.
He said he would rely on staff and department heads to do their job and justify budgets and policies.
After attending commissioner meetings for more than three years, “I believe the county has a good staff. … I’m not going to run in there trying to change something,” Ferrell said.
Norquist: “My parents instilled in her a “tremendous value of service,” Norquist said.
In addition to overseeing non-profits with budgets exceeding $20 million and starting her own company, she has managed “complex” contracts with government agencies.
“One my greatest strengths is building meaningful and productive relationships.” That is a key component of working with the many county departments, she said.
She acknowledged she has a lot to learn about county government, but she said she is a fast learner and is quick to understand complex problems.
The next event in the Cowlitz Civil Dialogue Project’s candidate debate series takes place at 7 p.m. Wednesday, September 25, at Lower Columbia College’s Rose Center. State Sen. Jeff Wilson debates Democratic challenger Andi Day. The debate also will be broadcast live on KLTV.
Should the county hire a professional, full-time administrator?
Ferrell: He opposes the idea. The county has had two administrators in the past who “have failed,’ resulting in a return of administrative duties to the commissioners, he said. “It would be truly remarkable to find one person as general manager who can manage 33 different departments,” many of which are unrelated to one another and that some — such as the sheriff’s, auditor’s and assessor’s offices — are managed by other elected officials.
Norquist: “I think it would be a tremendous value” to do so, Norquist said, adding that model has worked well in other counties.
She said the county budget and department structure are complex and that a manager would improve communication and coordination among departments. She pointed out that the state Open Public Meetings Act prohibits more than one commissioner from meeting with department heads outside of official meetings, making for cumbersome communications
Do you support continued funding for Hope village?
The state has been funding Hope Villages’ operating costs, but if that funding dries up the county might be asked to pay because it took over Longview’s homeless program and associated funding source earlier this year.
Norquist: She’s all in with the city’s homeless project, which is modeled after similar pallet home communities in Vancouver, Tacoma and other locations in Western Washington.
The controlled entry project houses up to 50 single adults at a time and has placed 75 people in permanent housing since the city opened it in December 2022 to replace the blighted and unregulated Alabama Street homeless camp.
Hope Village “is a success story that is part of the puzzle” to remedy the area’s homeless problem, Norquist said.
The Salvation Army, which runs the pallet home community under contract with the city of Longview, takes a “wraparound approach that treats the whole person,” whether it be referrals for drug or mental health treatment, Norquist noted.
She read an account of a Hope Village resident who has been drug-free for 45 days.
Ferrell: He acknowledged that Hope Village “is a commitment that to some level has to go forward,” but said he is not an advocate of “low barrier” shelters.
He noted that no drug testing or criminal background checks are conducted on Hope Village clients, and that could pose threats to other Hope Village residents.
Ferrell said any program can have “one or two success stories” but that its important to consider failures, too.
“If you have a 50/50 success and failure rate, is the program worth continuing or do we need to find something better?” he asked rhetorically.
“How long will you put money into a program that does not have a very good success rate?”
He did not offer any statistical evidence about Hope Village to support a claim of failure.
He did reference The Tragedy of American Compassion, a 1994 book by Marvin Olasky that criticizes the welfare state and has become a kind of manifesto recently among local conservatives.
Without being specific, Ferrell said homeless programs are ineffective and end up “feeding the problem,” citing a documentary called Seattle is Dying.
Background: Incoming Hope Village residents are checked for outstanding warrants, and residents who enroll in drug treatment programs must consent to drug testing. Salvation Army staff check clients for drug possession, bar entry to non-residents and impose a curfew. Drug offenses are the prime reason clients are ”exited” from the program. There is a long waiting list of homeless people seeking to get into the program.
Do you support restoration of the county’s mental health tax, which raised $2.8 million annually for drug court, the sheriff’s office behavioral health unit and state-mandated drug abuse counseling in the county jail? And how would you pay for these programs if voters say no to the 0.1% sales tax (10 cents on a $100 purchase) in the November advisory vote?
Neither candidate suggested a way to continue these programs in the absence of a mental health tax.
Incumbent commissioners Rick Dahl and Arne Mortensen refused to renew the mental health tax despite testimony from judges, counselors and former addicts that drug court has a proven record of reducing recidivism, reduces court and jail costs and rebuilds wrecked lives.
Norquist; The county needs to expand its economic base to generate tax revenues to support services, though she acknowledged that’s a long-term solution.
She is a strong supporter of the tax and the programs it supports and hopes voters give the tax to support them a thumb’s up.
The mental health tax “is an extremely low cost way to pay for these extremely important services. Drug court alone is a real success story here. It helps people get out of the cycle of crime and addiction and rebuild their lives,” Norquist said.
She did not say whether she’d vote to reimpose the tax if voters reject it in the advisory vote. On Wednesday, she said by phone, “I honestly don’t know. It supports such important programs.”
“There are a lot of factors involved, I would have to talk to a bunch of people if elected to figure out the best route of funding he program,”noting that the county already is facing a budget deficit next year. “It it doesn’t pass, that is an immediate red flag for me and (should ) initiate a planning process … to figure out how we can keep things going.”
Ferrell: The county has about $2.6 million in reserve from the tax collected before it it expired on April 1 that would fund the programs for a year. He said he would not support restoration of the tax until those are spent, saying holding on to tax revenues “is holding on to a piece of people’s lives.”
“Once government takes it away they can’t give you the time back” that it took to earn the money, he said.
During the debate Ferrell did not indicate whether he would go along with restoration of the tax if voters say yes in the advisory ballot, but he said during intermission that he would — but only after the existing mental tax revenues are spent.
“We’ll see how the vote turns out.”
His basic skepticism of any tax emerged, saying that any time taxes go up that donations for charity and churches decline, especially among more wealthy people.
Cowlitz County has many health problems, but the county sends hundreds of thousands of dollars of public health programs back to the state. How would you rewrite our health strategy to ensure we are investing every last dollar in our own community’s health and well being?
Ferrell: He said it’s up to the couty’s seven-member board of health — which includes the three county commissioners — to give direction to address health problems.
He called attention to the political divisions that have afflicted the board for the last several years — divisions largely centered on government responses to the COVID pandemic.
“Somehow emotions need to be put aside and just deal with the facts” to reach reasonable decisions ….Hopefully I can be a calming voice and bring (discussions) back to planet earth.”
Ferrell added that it’s not surprising that Cowlitz Couny has health problems due to the industrial nature of the work force. Rotating shift work in particular puts extra pressure on individuals and families, Ferrell said.
Norquist: She said the county has returned $3 million in public health dollars back to the state over the past three years. That’s incredulous, she said.
“It makes no sense to me” that those funds have not been apportioned to nonprofits and public agencies to put to good use here, Norquist said. She called for the board and County Department of Health and Human Services to develop a plan to improve health outcomes and keep the money locally.
She said acknowledged that some people oppose public spending on public health and assert that “it should the nonprofits and churches that should step up. ...But It is hard to raise money in Cowlitz County” and unrealistic to expect charitable groups to meet the needs on their own.
The county health board last December adopted a controversial “medical freedom” resolution opposing COVID and other health mandates. It asserted that COVID-19 mandates harmed the public and COVID vaccines do not work, despite assurances from the medical community that they are safe and effective. As a commissioner, how would you balance or adjust your views when they conflict with legal or professional opinions?
Ferrell: He rejected the idea of unanimity among professional opinions, stating “there are so many experts out there. It’s like asking two different attorneys to tell me what the law is” only to have those opinions challenged by higher and higher courts.
Eventually, it’s up to elected officials to make the best decisions for the public. based on the best information available, he said. “I believe in medical freedom for individuals,” he said. “I have a problem with mandates. ”
Norquist: She knocked the county commissioners — who serve as three representatives on the health board and appoint four non-elected officers to it — for using a philosophical “litmus test” to appoint like-minded candidates instead of searching for the most qualified people. (The commissioners recently had to restart the search for appointees after the county prosecutor’s office determined they did not adequately advertise the board openings. It was criticized as a means to pack the board with people philosophically aligned with conservatives Dahl and Mortensen.)
“It’s really important to pick the most qualified candidates and leave your personal perspective and philosophy somewhere else,” Norquist said.
The county’s expenses are growing faster than revenues. How would you address this problem and maintain essential county services?
Both candidates turned this into an query about economic development. The both remarked on the =job-creating potential of the former Reynolds Metals Co. mill site in Longview.
Ferrell: The key is economic growth to generate more tax revenues. There needs to be a streamlining of permitting and environmental review processes that get the way of projects like the Port of Kalama methanol project and the coal terminal once proposed at the old Reynolds Metals Co. mill site, Ferrell said
‘We need to be opening doors and not chasing (businesses) away,“ he said. “We’re fighting ourselves. Are the (environmental issues real or imagined? Remember the spotted owl?” and its impact the timber industry he asked.
He’ said he’s particularly interestd in finding ways to make it easier for small businesses to start and succeed.
Norquist: Citing a 2016 “strategic” study — which she did not identify — Norquist said “Cowlitz County has a self-esteem problem. I don’ know if that is true. … What I do know … is that we have a reputation problem.
“A lot people call us the county of ‘no.’ It is not because we are turning down projects … it’s because we are difficult to work with. … We need to turn that around and become the county of ‘yes’ if we’re going to attract” world class companies.
She said she empathizes with how hard it is to open a small business, having launched one herself. “There were times I was ticked off “ at the bureaucracy, she said.
How do you balance the need to be decisive with the need to be flexible, and report an example of how you changed your thinking or position?
Ferrell: “I’ve never been afraid say, ‘I don’t know.’ But I’ll find the answer,” … I’m always flexble. When I need guidance I will look for it.”
Norquist: She said it is important for leaders to listen, have humility, build relationships and stay out of the way of employees hired to do a job.
Sbe said she attended a recent meeting of the local Sandbaggers group, a group that promotes the city through good natured pranks and fun. “I was the odd person out,” Norquist said, but she learned greater appreciation for business peeople’s concerns about over regulation and the homeless.
The county, which earns more than $7 million a year off its Headquarters Landfill, has been advised it has a legal obligation to share those revenues with local cities. The county has not done so, but should it?
Norquist: She acknowledged that she is not schooled on the legal issues, but she said “it’s worth a try to work with the cities” on a revenue-sharing agreement. However, she said the revenues are a”critical” part of the county’s budget.
Norquist expressed concern that the county is profiting by accepting large volumes of out-out-county waste, which could reduce the life of the facility.
Ferrell; He also said he is unfamiliar with the legal issues, but he said the landfill has 50 years of capacity at the current rate of waste disposal there and that county’s landfill is model operation, he said.
Both Ferrell and Norquist criticized the state Department of Ecology for roadblocking a county/Cowlitz PUD project to burn landfill waste gases in turbines to produce energy for 4,500 homes.
Watch the entire debate on KLTV’s website.
The story has been corrected to report the correct rate and cost of the mental health tax. The correct rate is 0.01 percent, which means 10 cents on a $100 purchase.
IMO there is no question who would be the best, Amy Norquist. So I guess it's up to Democrats to make that happen but with a 37% turnout rate? Time for people in this county to decide if they want the same old stuff or get off the couch and vote for someone who will move this county out of the dark ages. It's that simple. You can lead a horse to water but you can't make them vote.