Q: What do you think we can do as a region to help grow the local business community?
Barnes: What we need to do is bring people together. I think the news media have the opportunity to do that more than anyone else… We could get Identity Clark County, the CREDC, the Chamber of Commerce, the high-tech council, the BIA, the unions – all those folks at the table, working together and bringing their ideas…
You have to get groups of people together. I know there are people that are willing to come and sit down, but they’ve got to be invited. We need to try to get everybody back to the table.
Q: What is your take on the county’s fee waiver program?
Barnes: Right now I’m in the process of reviewing the fee waivers [because] I don’t know where that money is going. For the people getting the waivers, is [that money] going back into their business or is it going back into their pocket? Are they going to make a trip to Acapulco or buy a new Mercedes? There has to be some way to show the taxpayers are benefiting from it.
I think it is important that we do things that create jobs, but I’m not a person that wants to give freebies away to anybody. Look at what the state of Washington tried to give to Boeing to try to keep them here. And where did they go? They went to South Carolina because they gave them more.
If it works, I’m all for it. Right now I can’t see where it’s benefiting the taxpayer.
Q: Looking down the road, where do you see business growth in Clark County coming from?
Barnes: One of the places is the Port of Vancouver. For the last 20 years, who has been the big job maker in Clark County? It’s the port of Vancouver. They have a huge amount of property down there that is available for businesses to come and locate there.
I think WaferTech, SEH America – companies like that have room to grow. Washington canneries also have opportunities to expand. They put a lot of people to work under good wages and good benefits.
Q: What about north county development?
Barnes: Sooner or later the Cowlitz Indians are going to be here, whether some folks like it or not. Commissioner Mielke likes to say that’s 3,000 low-wage jobs. The way to handle that is do just like Seattle did. Use the minimum wage that’s here now of $9.35, raise it to $10.10 like the president wants to do, then take a seven year period of time in order to graduate the wages and standard of living up.
I don’t know if $15 is a living wage or not, but it’s a place to start. I think I’ll propose to [the other commissioners] to have county staff look into that and to get some information from Seattle.
