Election 2026: League of Women Voters General Election Candidate Forum

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0:30 Welcome to the League of Women Voters General Election Candidate Forum. My name is Teresa Torres. I'm the moderator for this event and a member of the League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan group focused on voter education. Thank you to our candidates for their participation in this event, and a special thanks to CVTV for hosting it. The forum will be aired on CVTV and online at cvtv.org. The assessor forum cannot be held tonight, and we are working on rescheduling. Our forum tonight features candidates for State House of Representatives in the 17th District, Position 2. Joining us are Diana Perez and David Steevee. Welcome to both of you. Candidates, please watch the league timer and stay within the timelines for each question. You will have 60 seconds to answer each question unless instructed otherwise.

1:28 Answer in the order you appear on the ballot, and we will rotate after that. All questions are prepared by the League of Women Voters of Clark County, and we're providing the timer. Candidate Perez, tell us why you want to be a legislator, what skills and abilities you would bring to the job, and your history in the 17th District. What issues most affect your neighbors? You will have 90 seconds. Okay, thank you. Pleasure to be here with you tonight and to share a little bit about why I'm running. First, I have lived in the district for 26 years, and I moved here to continue my professional career, and I made it my home. And this is where I put down my roots. This is where I've raised my children. I've worked, played, volunteered, and became heavily involved in my community. What I bring is both that lived experience and a career that has been built around collaboration and solving problems. I've been a scientist, a public lands manager, a wildland firefighter, a state commissioner,

2:27 and now a city council member and a small business owner. I've learned how to bring people with different interests together to understand complicated issues, to work through bureaucracy, regulations, and budgets, and turn those ideas into practical solutions. As a city council member and state commissioner, I see how decisions made at the state level directly affect our neighborhoods. I've worked with local, state, federal, tribal, profit, and nonprofit organizations, and I understand the challenges aren't the same in every neighborhood. What a family in Vancouver needs may be very different from what a small business, farmer, or family in Skamania or Klickitat County needs. My greatest skill is listening, asking the right questions, and then doing the work. I know this district because I've built my life here, and I would bring all of that experience that I have along with 35 years of public service

3:27 to solving the everyday problems affecting our communities. Candidate Steebe, do you need for me to repeat the question? Or we're just going to go on if you don't -- okay, all right. You know what? The reason why I'm here is because I've spent my whole life in service. And so I did Marine Corps, retired as a colonel. I've lived all over the world dealing with a lot of different issues, whether or not they've been combat missions, humanitarian missions, training missions, coalition missions, I learned very early how to bring people together and to accomplish a mission. And I looked all over the place of where I wanted to retire, and I picked the northwest. I think I was tired of deserts, so I wanted trees and green. So I've made this my home. And when you're in the fire all those years, you want to stay in the fire, and I want to stay active. So I've made this my home, and when you're in the fire all those years, you want to stay in the fire, and I want to stay active.

4:27 I had a buddy of mine said, hey, you should look at our city council. I got on city council of Washougal. All of a sudden became the mayor because I wanted to stay active. Great successes, bringing in a lot of federal dollars. You know, Pete Buttigieg from transportation got us doing an over-rail project. Working with Marie Perez with our wastewater treatment. So bringing people together and solving problems. I was up there on the state level, and they go, Dave, we need you to come up here and help us out. And I wanted to keep being involved. So I've been up there for two years. I've seen behind the curtain. I think I've done really well up there bringing people together and earning trust and respect. And that's why I want to continue. Thank you. So, Candidate Stiebe, what specific methods would you use to communicate with your diverse constituents, rural, suburban, and urban?

5:27 So I'm really proud of that question. So it's not often that people answer phones, especially up in Olympia. I listen to everybody. And I've got the best L.A. She didn't want me to say this, but she picks up the phone and answers everybody's questions, brings them to me. And I'm like, Holly, this person's from Spokane, and they're not even in my district. And it's like, Dave. It's an issue that you deal with as part of your one-year-four committees, transportation, energy environment, local government, health care. And we talk to everybody. If we don't answer the phone and get back to you, we eventually will. But we pick up the phone all the time. I love talking to the constituents. I want to know what the problems are so we can solve the problems. And we have to do it together. Thank you. Candidate Perez, just let me know.

6:27 Let me know if you need for me to repeat a question. How to communicate with my constituents. Yes. Thank you. Communication starts with listening. And I don't expect people to always come to me. So I need to go to them where they're at. And the 17th District, because it includes urban, suburban, rural communities with very different concerns, I would use several ways to stay connected. Like rotating town halls and office hours throughout the district. Virtual meetings, community listening sessions, newsletters, social media, and regular, regular constituent contact. I also like the idea of office hours on the road, where we would regularly set up at libraries, community centers, or other gathering spaces, particularly in the remote communities, like Trout Lake. And communication has to go both ways. I want to provide a regular, "You asked, I answered."

7:27 Update. Here's what I'm hearing, here's what I'm doing about it, and here's where legislation stands. Most importantly, I won't listen to the people, I won't just listen to the people who agree with me. Good representations means being accessible, hearing the different perspectives, and making sure that people know their voice matters, even when we disagree. Thank you. So, Candidate Perez, how do we -- How do we ensure long-term water availability, balancing the needs of agriculture, recreation, conservation, and home use? Great question. So, this is really about the water rights, and water is essential to everyone, to our families, our farms, our fisheries, to tribal nations, and our local economy, and we need to plan for a future where water supplies -- Because they're going to be --

8:26 Because they're going to be under increasing pressure, and have we heard about climate change? The issue is that the state promises to protect our farmland, but hasn't made sure that land has water. Closing that gap is the legislator's job. So, I would start by protecting existing senior water rights, and honoring our tribal treaty rights, and making sure that we have accurate information about how much water is available and being used. because it's important to our economy as well. I believe in watershed level planning that brings people together, rural residents, fisheries and conservation interests to find practical solutions for that. Candidate Stevie? Yeah, thank you. So water issues are very serious and it's really sad that we live in the state of Washington where it rains all the time. And we still have water issues.

9:25 So I'm on a well, but I had to connect to city water just because the well runs dry, and that's a scary concern. We need to look at priorities on what we're doing with our water. In the city of Washougal, we're growing and we're building, and so I'm talking to them. And they're like, no, our wells are generating enough water. But as we change, as we bring in more people, more industry, more farm lands, we need to make sure that we prioritize. Because that is going to be a problem. Water is life. And so we need to make sure that we work with everybody. That is not a single issue out there. We need to work together to make sure that we are able to produce and take care of the demand that we have. Thank you. Mm-hm.

10:24 So candidates to give me, does the state have a role to play in regulating artificial intelligence? Why or why not? Yeah, so absolutely. And I've spent a lot of time in the last year talking about AI. Part of me says that one, we want to make sure that we nationally stay on top of that. That that is going to be a, how would I say that? It's. It could be a threat. It could be a defensive thing against us. We want to stay on the top of that. The other is, I don't want to hold things back. I don't want to put all these regulations on America, but we're dealing with the state, right? But I want to make sure that we're doing it responsibly. And there should be safeguards on this, the people that are creating it, the people that are running it.

11:23 Need to work with us to make sure that we're being safe, we don't lose personal information, it's got to be safe. People are talking to me about, am I talking to a doctor or to a AI? So we have to be responsible with that. Thank you, and candidate Perez? Yes, although, yes, I believe that the state has a role to play. AI has tremendous potential, but it also creates real concerns around. Privacy, discrimination, employment, misinformation, and public safety. Washington state does have an AI task force, and it's spent the last two years examining those issues. And I think that the state should build on that work. I'd focus regulation on high risk uses, such as when AI helps make decisions about healthcare. Employment, housing, public safety, or other areas that can significantly affect safety.

12:23 And I think that the state should build on that work, as well, so that we can make decisions about someone's rights or a livelihood. People should know when AI is being used, understand how important decisions are being made using AI. And they should have meaningful access to actual human review and contact. So we especially need strong protections for our children, for personal data, and against discriminatory outcomes. So when it comes to innovation, though, we should be thoughtful in our approach. We do want small businesses and entrepreneurs to innovate. Thank you. Kennedy Perez, what changes, if any, would you make to the state's system of voting? The state's system of voting, I believe we have a pretty secure system of voting. Washington has used vote-by-mail successfully for many years, and I believe the system is secure.

13:18 That system has controls designed to prevent, detect, correct, and audit problems. Washington's paper ballot trail is especially important because results can be independently audited or recounted rather than relying solely on electronic records. So we use paper ballots, we verify voter signatures, we track the ballots, we maintain the chain of custody requirements, we test the voting equipment, and conduct post-election audits. Those safeguards do matter. If I could strengthen one area, I'd focus on greater consistency and transparency across all of the 39 counties. Voters should have confidence that, about signature verification, about the ballot counting, the chain of custody, and the election audits are being carried out to the same high standards wherever they live. Thank you. And candidate Steedy. I echo the same thing. Thank you.

14:17 So I trust our system. Being military, I've been overseas a lot, living overseas and doing the absentee balance. I trust our system that we have, and I know there might be a couple one-offs and stuff, but I think we have a good system, and I encourage that we keep doing that. Okay, thank you. Candidate Steedy, please describe your personal code of ethics. Wow. So I give a lot of credit to my dad, who was also in the Marine Corps, right, that would pull out the belt. No, you know, starting off, I was in the Boy Scouts, made it to Eagle Scouts, so I think you start like when you're 11 1⁄2, 12, but you learn the scout law and all that. You know, trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent.

15:16 But I think I started that way, and then in the Marine Corps, you take care of people, and when you take care of people, you earn their trust, their respect. You take care of them, they take care of you, and you do what's right, and I think I've always done that. So that's, it's in my core, it's in my creed. Thank you. And Candidate Perez. Thank you. First, well. I always tell the truth, even when it's very inconvenient. I'll explain the tradeoffs of a decision, admit what I don't know, and never promise what I can't deliver. I like to follow the evidence. I'm a scientist, so I look at the data. I'll do my due diligence. I'll listen to experts. I ask a lot of questions because I seek to understand, and you know what? It's okay to change my mind when the facts change. I work for fairness with equity.

16:16 I want to be honest with the people I work for, and I want to be honest with the people I work for, and I want to be honest with the people I work for, and I want to be honest with the people I work for, and I want to be honest with the people I work for, and I want to be honest with the people I work for, and I want to be honest with the people I work for, and I want to be honest with the people I work for, and I want to be honest with the people I work for, and I want to be honest with the people I work for, and I want to be honest with the people I work for, and I want to be honest with the people I work for, and I want to be honest with the people I work for, and I want to be honest with the people I work for, and I want to be honest with the people I work for, and I want to be honest with the people I work for.

16:41 Thank you. Candidate Perez, some people are concerned that the new tax on high earners will lead to state income taxes across the board. What are your thoughts on this? I understand the worry that a tax on the highest earners, the millionaire's tax, could someday reach everyone. And it's a fair question. It's a fair question and a fair concern. And this tax applies only to income above a million dollars. And changing that would take a new law, a public vote in the legislature, and a public debate. I would not support lowering that threshold. And I want to be clear about why I support it. Washington has one of the most regressive tax systems in the country. According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy,

17:40 the poorest of Washington families pay more than three times the share of their income in state and local taxes that the top 1% pay, and middle-income families pay nearly three times. The millionaire's tax is simply one tool intended to make the system more balanced. I would closely track what happens after implementation, and I'd want every dollar to be transparent with the public dashboard or public report of what it raises. And where it goes. Thank you. Candidate Stevie. So, um, I spent over 24 hours debating that bill, trying to make it better, up in Olympia last, last year. So we should be afraid of that. I'm afraid of that. It's, um, it sounds nice, and we had a lot of people calling our office, like, "Yeah, you know, all those guys with the, you know, make millions of dollars, they should be paying for my gas and my child care and my, you know, all of that." Yeah.

18:40 My health care and my day care. And the problem is that money has already been spent. So the state had to raise over $80 billion to run our, our state. And that's a lot of money. And it's not that we're not bringing the money in with our taxes. It's where we're spending it. We're not spending it in the right place. What really scares me about that. And I love your motivation with this. But when 100%, because that was a bipartisan bill. And when 100% of the Democrats vote to say, "I want to, we're going to implement this one," that's a problem. We need to come together with a better solution. Candidate Stiebe, what ideas do you have about how the state can balance its budget? So.

19:38 I have been looking behind that curtain for the last two years. And it is pretty scary. We taxed everything. There was a fund tax. You're -- I don't know. Everything got taxed. We were trying to do amendments to relieve some of that and make it easier for people to have affordability to buy groceries, to buy gas. My thing is, is we need to -- and this is in two years. Which I'm trying to figure out. We need to spend our money upstream. Right now, instead of taking care of the family, taking care of housing, taking care of groceries, the way of life, we're waiting until it metastasizes into a thousand things. All of a sudden, because people don't have jobs, there's mental illness, there's family abuse, we're not taking care of that problem upriver. We're spending money way down.

20:36 And it's a waste down there. Why aren't we spending it and solve the problem early instead of spending all this money that has no ROI at the end? Thank you. Senator Perez. Thank you. I want a serious review of the funding formulas that are being used at the state. Administrative costs, duplication, programs that aren't producing results or the outcome that was set to fund. And whether the state is getting the measurable value from what it already spends. I'd start by reviewing newer programs and programs that have expanded significantly. Are they producing the results, measurable results? Are there duplicative programs across agencies? Can administrative costs be reduced or services delivered more efficiently? I'd look at vacant positions, consulting and contracting costs, administrative overhead.

21:34 And I'd try to see if they fulfilled their original purpose before just going straight to cutting frontline services. I'd protect our paramount duty to fund public education and prioritize public safety, healthcare infrastructure, and services that do keep our people safe and working. My approach would be reform first, prioritize essential services, require those measurable results, and make sure any revenue decision moves us toward a fairer tax system. Rather than making Washington less affordable. Thank you. So to candidate Perez, the state's gas tax revenue is declining while roadway maintenance needs are growing. What, if anything, should be done to address this? The gas tax surely is shrinking as vehicles become more efficient and more people are driving electrical vehicles. And so because of that we're collecting less while our roads and bridges are...

22:32 aging and costing more to maintain and repair. So Washington has studied a per mile road usage charge for years. And I'm open to evaluating that effort. But my first question is, what, who does it work for and who does it burden? A mile, a per mile charge may create more parity between electric and gas vehicles. But working family up in Skamania County or Klickitat County or way up high on the Washougal River Road may drive many miles, over 50 miles for work, for doctor's appointments or just groceries because they have no other choice. So before supporting a transition to a per mile charge, I want to make sure that we have built in some safeguards such as no double taxation with the gas tax.

23:30 We have to have strong privacy protections, appropriate treatment of farm, forestry and off-road mileage and a way to monitor the impact on our rural families. Okay, thank you. And candidate Stebe? Yeah, so the gas tax is kind of a scam. I wouldn't mind spending more money at the pump if I knew that that money was going to our potholes, to our bridges, to the maintenance of our roads. And it's not going there and there's no transparency. And I'm going to throw this out. It's really hard being in a minority. When you have a majority, there is no accountability and it's really hard. I've tried asking for some of those databases. It's on the homeless. But they wouldn't even give me a hearing because they didn't want me to find that information out. And that's a problem. Our gas tax, we need to know where that money is going.

24:28 So I had Jake Vi, he's the chair of transportation, come down I think last week. I'm trying to get that slough bridge fixed. We've already had fatalities there. Got them underneath that bridge. I think I've got that up to a top priority. But we need to spend our money that we're collecting for our roads and fixing our roads. And right now we've got 158 dilapidated bridges. We need to fix Washington with that. Thank you. So candidate Stevie, federal grants are going away for health and social services. What is the state's responsibility for financing these services? So we need to make sure that we are smart with that. There are a lot of federal grants out there that we need to make sure that we capitalize on. There are always matching grants that you have to do. We need to make sure that we understand and we're not getting caught up. I hate the politics.

25:26 And whether or not it's an R or D, once we get elected, I'm up there to represent everybody. And so some of the federal grants that are out there, we need to make sure that as a state we look at that and say how is that going to benefit us and participate in that stuff. We have a duty and ownership to our citizens to make sure that they're taken care of, they feel safe, they have health, they have jobs. I think we need to really work with the feds and make sure. I've had a lot of success with that, working with Maria, working with, I don't know, our federal partners, our senators, making sure that we are bringing back the dollars to take care of our state. Thank you. Candidate Perez. Yes. When federal dollars for the healthcare shrink, everyone feels it. You feel it at a child's checkup.

26:26 You feel it at a parent's medication, doctor's appointment, and it's also a rural clinic survival. So Washington isn't required to replace every federal dollar. And the truth is we cannot. Replacing everything would cost roughly $3.2 billion every two years. So regional lifelines like CMAR here in Clark County, North Shore Medical Group, and Stevenson Medical Group, and Stevenson and White Salmon, and One Community Health face a massive wave of patients dropping from Medicaid to uninsured status. This is choking operational revenues. So when people lose Medicaid coverage, clinics don't just lose patients. They lose the reimbursement that pays doctors, nurses, counselors in operating costs. So state investments can help keep clinics and behavioral health facilities from closing.

27:22 But capital funding doesn't solve the long-term cost of providing care. So we have a responsibility to do what we can. Thank you. So Candidate Perez, does the state have a role to play in regulating the growth of data centers? Please explain. The state does have a role in regulating data centers because data centers affect our resources and infrastructure that everyone depends on. The 17th Legislative District represents a difference in approaches to managing the massive energy and water demands of a data center. For example, Skamania County Board of Commissioners unanimously passed a six-month temporary moratorium on data centers in order to write rules first because of concerns over excessive water consumption, noise pollution, and the strain on their small town electrical grid. West Klickitat County, on the other hand, rejected a moratorium choosing not to halt development

28:20 and instead is drafting an ordinance as we speak with proposals already in place in Dallasport and Goldendale. East Clark County here, though, is facing immense pressure but faces infrastructure limitations. That's why the state has a role. Counties decide where a data center can go, but they can't set energy rates, clean energy standards, or tax incentives. Earlier this year, the legislator extended the sales tax break for refurbishing existing data centers. But a broader bill on energy use and ratepayer protection died in the Senate and I'd bring that back. Thank you. Candidate Stevie. So data centers are the new technology, right? Everybody now is understanding the importance that they play. And so I have a good friend who's a legislator out in Quincy. And I've kind of used that as my model.

29:18 To understand what the data centers do, what they bring. We need -- we all have our cell phones. We need the data centers. But it's got to be a partnership. And from what I've heard from out in Quincy, they've kind of set the example out there. If you partner, you bring them in, and they become part of the community. Out in Quincy, they helped build, I think, their city hall. They did a soccer field. They do infrastructure. They bring in jobs. The average income in Quincy raised up because of that. So that, I find, is really important. But then they come with issues. But if they can come and produce their own energy, which they are doing, if they can work with us on our water, then it becomes a teamwork out there, collaboration. I think it's very important for us. Thank you.

30:18 So, now it's your turn. You may want to elaborate on an answer that you already gave or talk about something we didn't cover. You have 90 seconds for this response. And candidate Stevie -- no, we start with you. Oh, really? Yeah. My woman first? Okay. Yeah. No. Always a gentleman. Being up in Olympia the last two years, I've started a lot of stuff and made a lot of promises. I'm on four committees. Energy, environment, healthcare, local government, and what's the other one I'm on? Healthcare? Did I say that? I don't know. So, anyways, I'm covering a lot of things. And not only are we dealing with issues on those committees, but I've got all the other constituents where we're trying to solve problems. So, I've got a lot of stuff in the works. I've made a lot of promises to try and help people. Try and help things and make this a better state.

31:17 I'm really excited about the opportunity to go back. It took two years to really figure out how to work up there. First year, you know, I had a couple bills. I went up there thinking, okay, I'm going to change everything. It's really hard to do because you've got a majority party and you've got a minority party. And I learned how to really work across the aisle. I made friends with everybody up there. And I guess my biggest coup -- so, it was last year. I had a bill to basically say if you dial 911, you've got an ambulance coming trained. They're all paid. They've got all the right equipment. But my caucus said, Dave, you've got 35 Democrats signed on to this bill. What's up with that? And I'm like, because I want to get it passed. If I just went down my silo, I would have never got it passed. So, I've learned how to work across the aisle. I've learned how to work together and try and provide solutions.

32:17 Thank you. And candidate Perez. Thank you. You deserve somebody who's going to work very hard for you in Olympia, a leader. And I am that champion for you. I am that leader who will focus on the fundamentals of affordability, safe communities, reliable infrastructure, and an economy that's working for all. I'm a person, family, and community feels included, respected, and has the opportunity to succeed. When elected as state representative, I will step down from city council and focus 100% of my time to represent you. After more than 35 years in federal public service as a biologist, a public lands manager, a state commissioner, a Vancouver City Council member, and now a small business owner, I've seen and felt firsthand how policy decisions at a local level have changed. And I'm proud to be a part of that.

33:03 I'm proud to be a part of that.

35:28 Thank you.