Vancouver resident Michael Jelineo offers his thoughts on the race for the District 2 seat on the County Council
Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are those of the author alone and do not reflect the editorial position of ClarkCountyToday.com
As everyone one knows, the general election is quickly approaching. We need improvements in Clark County in general, but more than ever we need progress in County Council District 2. Julie Olson occupied that position for way too long. When she decided she was not going to run for re-election this year, Michelle Belkot was standing ready to run for that seat. This was after she had lost her race for Vancouver Public School Board. Let it be known that she lost that race because the teacher’s union wanted a rubber-stamp re-election and threw a lot of money at it.
Michelle won the County Council primary and is now running against an opponent who lost to her in the school board primary. Michelle isn’t going to give up, she still wants to see progress in Clark County regarding all the problems that Julie Olson wasn’t taking care of, such as the homelessness issue, which is caused by a lifestyle these individuals have chosen to pursue. Using illegal drugs has caused an increase in the Mental Health issues we see which contributes to homelessness and crime. We also have issues with crime as law enforcement, because of the laws, can’t keep up with the crime. In fact, it’s made worse by a lack of officers due to the unfounded derision of law enforcement by the left. Lastly, the education system is broken, and has gotten so bad that parents are outraged. Closing of our schools because of COVID both caused and exposed many of the problems. Michelle not only wants what’s best for her two boys, but for the rest of the kids in Clark County.
Recently, an article was published by a local newspaper stating that they were not going to conduct interviews with the District 2 candidates because they have too much going on. Therefore, they weren’t going to endorse either candidate for District 2. Note that they had endorsed Michelle Belkot during the primaries. They chose not to endorse her opponent Chartisha Roberts because they didn’t believe she had the experience to do the job.
Michelle has a lot of experience; 24 years combined Air Force and Navy Veteran, 20-plus years of contract procurement experience with multi-million-dollar construction and engineering projects, and 20-plus years of experience with management of budgets, planning and zoning policies, advisory boards, and county ordinances. Just knowing the size of the county budget is a big thing! If you don’t know it when asked, that is a problem, which happened to her opponent when asked the question by the newspaper’s Election Editorial Board. She didn’t have knowledge of even that basic information.
In closing, I would just like to encourage you to visit michellebelkot.com and read up about her positions and how she will improve District 2. And don’t forget to vote for her on November 8.
Michael JelineoÂ
Vancouver
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