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

Voters residing in the confines of Port District No. 2 have Wahkiakum County's only local contested election on the November ballot.

Lori Scott is challenging Carlton Appelo for Appelo's seat on the port commission.

Appelo was one of the three original commissioners from when the port district was formed in 1966. He has held the position since.

"I've been doing this for so many years that I have the background on every issue, so I wanted to stay with it," he told The Eagle this week.

"My brain function is fine. With my experience and community activities, I think I can be a credit to the port. I'm in good health now and have no ailments."

Appelo continues as the CEO of Western Wahkiakum, Inc., which provides telephone and digital internet services to approximately 5,000 customers in western Wahkiakum and southeastern Pacific counties.

He is also a historian and has collected and written about the history of the local area. His material is now housed in the Appelo Archives in Naselle.

Lori Scott retired six years ago from running real estate and hardware businesses in Naselle and western Wahkiakum County for 30 years. She became a certified mediator and started a new business, Pacific Mediation. She does a lot of volunteer and paid work in the areas of domestic relations, landlord/tenant disputes and consumer complaints.

In 2010, she decided to challenge Commissioner Blair Brady and campaigned unsuccessfully for the position. Brady won re-election by a vote of 1081 to 903.

This year, the idea of serving on a public board came back, and she decided to run for Port District 2 board of commissioners against Appelo, who has represented District 3 on the board since the port district was formed.

"I'm not making a big campaign," she said. "If the voters want me, I'll be there." She has been attending meetings of the Port 2 board of commissioners since filing for the office.

Scott has served in other areas of public office. She was a member of the Naselle/Grays River Valley School District around 1990-1994, and, as she owns land in both Pacific and Wahkiakum counties, on the Pacific County board of adjustment.

She is no longer involved in the real estate business and let her license expire.