PORT ANGELES — A challenger in the Nov. 5 general election for a seat on the Clallam County Fire District 3 commission has amassed a war chest while the longtime incumbent has deliberately raised nothing.
Two-term District 3 Commissioner James Barnfather, 68 as of Election Day, said Friday he is proud that he has raised “absolutely zero” in campaign funds nor doorbelled for votes to retain his six-year seat against challenger Bill Miano III, 48.
Miano is the top campaign fundraiser among four Clallam County candidates who are raising more than $5,000.
Ballots mailed to registered voters Wednesday are due by 8 p.m. Nov. 5 at the Auditor’s Office or in dropboxes, or must be postmarked by that date.
Candidates are required by the state Public Disclosure Commission to report specific contributions and expenditures if they intend to raise more than $5,000.
Most of the 14 Clallam County contested races — not including one in which a candidate dropped out past the deadline to be removed from the ballot — either have no expenditures listed or contain one candidate who has exceeded the limit while the other candidate is not spending enough to file contribution and expenditure reports.
Miano has raised $6,218 without taking any loans and spent $4,951. He counts as his top contributor District 3 Lt. Kevin Van De Wege, the 24th District state senator, who’s donated $750 to the effort.
Other contributors include District 3 firefighters and firefighter unions.
Barnfather opened a campaign account with $100 that he has not spent in a mostly Clallam County district that has 28,000 eligible voters, 400 of which are in Jefferson County.
That’s compared to the 22,000 voters in the Clallam County District 1 commissioner race between incumbent Mark Ozias and challenger Brandon Janisse, which is confined to Sequim-area District 1 voters.
“I’m doing this purely on the reputation and friends I’ve made over 12 years in office,” Barnfather said Friday, adding he was unable to attend the one candidate forum he was invited to because of a death in the family.
“I’ve been essentially campaigning for 12 years,” he said.
“The commissioners’ job is to actually manage the chief,” Barnfather, a retired firefighter-emergency medical technician, added.
“The chief basically has responsibility for their happiness.”
In the wake of Van De Wege’s support of Miano, Barnfather’s wife, Linda, is no longer working for Van De Wege as a legislative assistant.
The candidates’ main point of contention has been the sitting commissioners’ rejection of a federal Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grant awarded in 2017. The grant would have added six firefighters.
Barnfather said they turned down the grant because the matching funds would have cut $1.1 million into reserves over three years.
In 2018, voters approved a levy lid lift, and the department reapplied, but did not receive the grant.
Miano, a substitute Sequim School District school bus driver and a District 3 volunteer, said most of his donations come from firefighters when counting funds from firefighter unions.
“Firefighters reach out to their friends when they’re in trouble,” Miano said. “I believe I have a clearer vision of what it takes to staff and respond in the modern fire departments.
“More calls are happening than units are available.
“Dropping that grant in 2017 has really kicked the can down the road and put them in a big hole.”
He said Barnfather is “running a pure incumbent race,” forcing Miano to raise funds to gain name recognition and get his positions out to voters.
Other candidates who have filed to exceed the $5,000 threshold include Clallam County Hospital District 2 (Olympic Medical Center) commissioner candidate Ann Marie Henninger, who is running against Nate Adkisson, who is mini-reporting.
Henninger, who filed to raise more than $5,000, has raised $4,798, of which $1,500 was spent to successfully defend herself in a Superior Court lawsuit challenging her eligibility to run for the position based on her residence address.
“That’s the main reason I changed to full reporting,” she said Friday.
Candidates who filed contributions and expenditures with the state Public Disclosure Commission as of last week are listed here and are on the state Public Disclosure Commission’s website at www.pdc.wa.gov.
• Clallam County Commissioner
Sequim-area District 1
Mark Ozias
Starting balance: $1,559.
Contributions: $4,750.
In-kind contributions: None.
Loans: None.
Total contributions: $6,209.
Expenditures: $3,60.
Debt: None.
$1,000: Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, Sequim.
$500: Earl T. Archer, Sequim; Washington Association of Realtors Public Affairs Council, Olympia.
$250: Linda Petersen, Arlington; Stephanie Price, Sequim.
$145: Small contributions from a variety of donors.
$125: Stephen Rosales, Kim Rosales, Sequim.
$100: Rod Dixon, Monica Dixon, Robert Lynette, Nancy Jacobson, Kia Armstrong, Elizabeth Bumgarner, Cathy Brancacio, Michael Chase, Sequim.
• Port of Port Angeles
West End-Port-Angeles-area District 3.
Connie Beauvais
Starting balance: None.
Contributions: $3,611.
In-kind contributions: $111.
Cash contributions: $3,500.
Loans: $1,000.
Total: $4,611.
Expenditures: $2,551.
Debt: None.
$3,111: Connie Beauvais, Joyce.
$100: Jan Tatom, Jack Tatom, Debra Pitts, Brian Garrett, Sequim.
Clallam County Hospital District 2
Olympic Medical Center
Ann Marie Henninger
Starting balance: None.
Contributions: $3,298.
Cash contributions: $1,798
In-kind contributions: $1,500.
Loans: $1,500.
Total: $4,798.
Expenditures: $2,178.
$2,650: Ann Marie Henninger
$100: Marian C. Trebon, Port Angeles.
Clallam-Jefferson Fire District 3
William (Bill) Miano
Starting balance: None.
Contributions: $6,218.
Cash contributions: $5,947.
In-kind contributions: $270.
Total: $6,218.
Loans: None.
Expenditures: $4,951.
$750: Kevin Van De Wege, Sequim.
$500: Everett Firefighters Local 466, Everettt; Bill Miano Jr., Midway, Utah.
$351: Professional Firefighters of Kitsap County, Silverdale.
$250: Ryan Tillman, Port Hadlock; Bremerton Firefighters, International Association of Fire Fighters Local 437, Bremerton;
$240: Ivan J. Hueter, Sequim.
$200: Jared Romberg, Sequim; South Kitsap Professional Firefighters, Port Orchard; International Association of Fire Fighters Local 2024, Federal Way; Matthew V. Randazzo, Olympia.
$180: Bryce McGinley, Sequim.
$150: Kolby Konapaski, Port Angeles.
$125: Small contributions from a variety of donors.
$100: Leonard L. Horst, Jr, Lawrence T. Bingham, Joel L. Bower, Bryan Swanberg, Michael Sprenger, John C. Riley, Paul Lang, Jacob B. Linder; Sequim; Charles T. Cate, Siverdale; Alex S. McCracken, Centralia.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.