Steve Stuart loses the election.

Mark it on your calender. Steve Stuart handed Tom Mielke the election yesterday when he came out in opposition to I-912, the Gas Tax Repeal.

When an issue hits the ballot... and that issue is going to get 60% plus of the vote... if you get in front of it in opposition... you can expect to get run over by it.

Congrats, Steve. We hardly knew ye.




County commissioner candidates spar

Friday, August 5, 2005
By ERIN MIDDLEWOOD, Columbian staff writer

Clark County Commissioner Steve Stuart and his challenger Tom Mielke agreed that growth is the top issue confronting the county at a debate Thursday, but they disagreed on how to tackle the problem.

Mielke pointed out that the county's population has increased by 65 percent since 1990. The county should make room for the kind of influx it's experienced in the past 15 years, or be caught unprepared, he said.

"We failed to plan for that increase in population," Mielke said. "You can't stop growth. We end up finding ourselves on top of each other."

Stuart said he and other commissioners are studying historical development patterns to be more realistic in planning, but that's only the beginning.

"If we're going to be planning for a more realistic growth rate, who's going to pay for it? Is it going to hurt neighborhoods?" he asked. "Where is it going to go?"

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