The Wahkiakum County Eagle - Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891

Why are you running for this position?

Prestegard: Because I feel that I am the most qualified person with my business background and my experience working with volunteer organizations in board positions. The other thing I can bring to the plate is an extensive background in team building and training. And by doing that I can help with some of these small boards that I will be working with. I'm hoping that we can make some of their tasks easier by having a different perspective on decision making. That is the big part. It all comes down to my experience.

Experience

Prestegard: Probably the first government experience I had, I was on the city council, town council for Cathlamet, for one term. After that term, I moved to Longview. I worked for Reynolds Aluminum at that time. I've been in management positions the entire time. I've got extensive background with budgets. Whenever I was a department head you always had to answer your budget or you would be replaced. It's pretty simple in private industry. After 25 years there, Reynolds was sold to Alcoa Aluminum. About 10 years prior to that I had started my construction company and I worked that on the side, weekends, evenings and whenever, because I love it. I love construction. Did that for 35 years, up until now, I've been doing that full time.

As far as volunteer boards, I got involved with the Lower Columbia Contractors Association in Longview. I was president of that association for two years in the 15 years I belonged. I was on miscellaneous board positions from secretary on up to president. That led me to the Washington State Contractors Association, the BIAW. And I ended up as one of their board members. Being a board member of the state association, that automatically put me on as a national board member. I traveled all over the country to board meetings and participated in their decision making processes. You get into such a big association like that you don't have a whole heck of a lot of input but you learn a lot. You get a lot of experience, a lot of hard knocks.

In Longview, I was on the original board of directors for Habitat for Humanity. Built a couple of houses with them as lead carpenter. It was a good experience working with the volunteers. It was challenging but a lot of fun and very rewarding. I was a Cowlitz 2 Fire and Rescue Commissioner for one term, that was six years. That is a five member board and Cowlitz 2 Fire and Rescue is a large fire department with a large budget. We set policy for the entire organization. At the same time, and prior, I was a volunteer firefighter with Cowlitz 2. I worked my way up to battalion chief. I had three fire stations under my leadership.

I then moved back to Cathlamet and joined the Puget Island Fire Department and retired from that two years ago.

As far as community service I've been a member of the Longview Pioneer Lions for 37 years. I continue to be active in that association.

What do you hope to achieve if elected?

Prestegard: I would like to see our county operate under a balanced budget that is sustainable. That isn't always the easiest thing to do because we don't always know where our money is coming from when we set our budget. I would like to see the departments operate within a balanced budget through an entire year and not make changes mid-year. If there is excess money, I would rather evaluate the needs and go from there. It seems sometimes that people come and ask for additional staff, additional money. I know we are working short handed but we don't know what the next year is bringing. I would rather set some money aside to level things out a little bit, if possible. That's a tough one because no one wants to cut, nobody wants to give up services. That's a tough decision.

What is your vision for Wahkiakum County?

Prestegard: My vision for Wahkiakum County is to continue to be the lovely place we live in now. My vision would be to sustain the jobs that we have and grow. I don't see Wahkiakum County as a large industrial hub because we don't have the infrastructure, but the small entrepreneurial businesses can pop up and thrive here. We as a county need to support those businesses. I support the local businesses with my business whenever possible.

What should be a county commissioner's role in working to support local business and the economy?

The county commissioner's true role is to set a budget, see that the departments operate within that budget. We need to support the economic development in the community and support the businesses that we've got here.