Only two candidates among 18 running in Clallam and Jefferson counties in the Aug. 6 primary have raised enough campaign contributions to trigger state Public Disclosure Commission reporting requirements.
The two candidates — Colleen McAleer, port director of business development, and Del DelaBarre, a former program management consultant — are among the three running for the Port of Port Angeles Sequim-area District 1 seat.
And McAleer is by far the largest fundraiser.
According to her PDC filings, McAleer listed $14,340 in campaign contributions as of 6 p.m. Friday compared with DelaBarre, who had raised $3,790.
Incumbent Port Commissioner Paul McHugh said last week he has no campaign contributions and does not intend to spend anything in the primary.
Candidates running in jurisdictions with fewer than 5,000 registered voters have no reporting requirements unless they raise more than $5,000, PDC spokeswoman Lori Anderson said.
In jurisdictions with more than 5,000 voters, candidates can raise and spend up to $5,000 without reporting contributions and expenditures if they accept individual contributions of no more than $500, though their contribution lists must be open for public inspection for eight days leading up to the election, Anderson said.
Only voters in Sequim-area District 1 vote in the primary, while the general election for the port position will be countywide.
The district had 18,314 registered votes as of last Tuesday.
DelaBarre said last week that if he advances past the primary to the general election, he expects to spend more than $5,000 on his campaign but has already filed with the PDC to exceed that amount.
“It’s hard to compete against money,” he said.
McAleer’s largest contributors are Port Angeles-based Armstrong Marine Inc., a builder of aluminum boats, and John David Crow, chairman of the board of directors of Port Angeles-based Green Crow, a timberland investment management services company that has a corporate hangar at the port’s William R. Fairchild International Airport.
Crow, whose family founded Green Crow, and Armstrong Marine each donated $2,000 to McAleer’s campaign.
McAleer, whose May 16 port-lease-related whistle-blower complaint led to the June 24 resignation of Executive Director Jeff Robb, said that if elected, she would recuse herself from voting on matters related to Armstrong Marine, Green Crow or any other donors to her campaign.
Armstrong Marine was interested in leasing port land, but the company never followed up, McAleer said.
Armstrong Marine President Josh Armstrong did not return calls last week for comment for this article.
McAleer said she met Crow, who negotiated with the port for Green Crow’s hangar, after she filed for the position and was not involved in lease negotiations.
Crow is supporting McAleer because of her qualifications and business experience, he said Friday.
In a June 10 port meeting, he criticized Robb for conducting “very frustrating and difficult” negotiations for the hangar, according to minutes of the meeting.
“For years, we’ve seen the port mismanaged,” Crow said Friday in an interview, adding that the port “was not run very well” while Robb was executive director, a position Robb held for four years.
“I think [McAleer] can lend a fresh, new business approach to operating the port,” Crow added.
“She’s the only one willing to stand up and say things are not running well here,” Crow said, citing her whistle-blower complaint.
Robb, now the port’s director of environmental affairs, said Crow did not agree with the airport master plan as approved by the Federal Aviation Administration, or FAA.
“That was the conflict,” Robb said in a voice mail.
“The port commission reviewed and discussed the lease, and we entered into it, and I believe John David has a premium spot at the airport.”
McAleer’s other contributors include former port Airport and Marina Manager Doug Sandau, $500, and Pat Deja, the port’s former marketing and properties manager, $140.
McAleer has purchased yard signs and campaign buttons, conducted a mass mailing, bought newspaper and radio ads, and mailed fliers to military personnel and absentee voters.
“I think you need to have ubiquitous marketing,” McAleer said.
“A huge percentage of the voters are not that involved in the process and will often vote just by name recognition.”
McAleer’s supporters also include Realtor Dan Gase ($50), who has advanced unopposed to the general election for a Port Angeles City Council Position 4 seat, and James Barnfather ($40), an incumbent Clallam County Fire District No. 3 commissioner who is also in the primary.
McHugh is a former Sequim City Council member who was appointed to the port commission and began serving in January 2012.
“I’m pretty well-known and have a track record in east Clallam County,” McHugh said.
“I’m not planning on spending any money in the primary,” he added.
“My conclusion was that I didn’t think that in the primary, it would change the outcome tremendously,” he said.
“I think what I stand for and my background is well enough known, and we’ll let the chips fall where they may in the primary,” McHugh added.
“Things will be different in the general [election].”
DelaBarre said most contributions came from a June 22 campaign kickoff event at Olympic Theatre Arts.
Unlike McAleer and McHugh, DelaBarre has loaned money to his campaign: $1,000.
“I figured it was worth a thousand dollars to see this thing through to the primary,” DelaBarre said.
“This is an incredibly important race, and I think it’s hard to draw a conclusion in terms of motives for people to contribute, especially large contributors,” he added.
DelaBarre’s largest contributors include anti-fluoride activist Eloise Kailin ($200) of Sequim and Sequim City Council member and former Mayor Laura Dubois ($100).
“I think he has experience that would be useful and helpful to the port,” said Dubois, with whom McHugh served when he was on the council.
DelaBarre plans to reach voters mainly through a newspaper insert and newspaper advertising, he said.
Jefferson County
In the primary in Jefferson County, Port of Port Townsend District 2 commissioner candidate Bill Putney said he has two contributions totaling $140, while candidate Brad Clinefelter said he has not raised any contributions but has purchased yard signs.
A third candidate for the seat, entrepreneur Peter Quinn, did not return calls for comment.
Said Clinefelter: “I am applying for this position, is how I see it, based on my experience and knowledge.”
Putney said it’s unlikely he will do much advertising.
“There’s no chance for anything like a television war here,” he added.
Primary ballots were mailed Wednesday to voters and are due at county courthouses by 8 p.m. Aug. 6 — or must be postmarked by that date.
The top-two vote-getters in each of six races in Clallam and Jefferson counties will proceed to the Nov. 5 general election.
Other candidates on the ballot in Clallam County are Port Angeles School Board director Position 1 incumbent Sarah Methner and challengers David Tietz and Debby Fuson, and Fire District No. 3 incumbent James Barnfather and challengers Charles Perdomo and Sean Ryan.
Other candidates on the ballot in Jefferson County are Port Townsend City Council Position 1 incumbent Michelle Sandoval and challengers Bob Jautz and Vernon Garrison, and City Council Position 5 candidates Pam Adams, Steve Oakford and Harold Sherwood.
Residents of Gardiner in Jefferson County also vote in the Fire District No. 3 race.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5060, or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.