Clark County Close Up

0:30 [Music] Slow down. Pay attention. Be patient. Dangerous driving in road construction work zones has become a troubling trend in Clark County. This behavior puts workers, drivers, passengers, pedestrians, and cyclists at risk. So it's not a matter of if you encounter traffic control in a work zone. It's a matter of when you encounter traffic control in a work zone. So as we're ramping up construction efforts, we've seen a lot of drivers driving dangerously through our work zone. Summer is road construction season. Crews and equipment in work zones are sometimes within inches of passing vehicles. In 2025, there were 1,557 work zone collisions in Washington State.

1:27 We ask drivers to be slow as they enter a traffic control work zone. That allows the worker to be safe. It allows the drivers to maneuver around objects and pay attention to their surroundings. To avoid work zones, take a moment to plan your commute with a map app, such as Google or Apple, to find traffic delays, alternate routes, and road closures. Plan extra time for your commute and be patient when you encounter delays. We recently had an incident with a truck driver who tried driving through a road closure. Our inspector stopped them, told them that they needed to back up and drive around the detour. The truck driver got very upset. He actually got out of his vehicle and assaulted our inspector. The top three causes of work zone crashes is following too close, speeding, and distracted driving.

2:21 On the day of the incident, I arrived on site as normal, making sure the contractors had traffic control set in place. There was a distracted driver on the phone who, in a result, hit the worker, saw cutting in the road head on. That worker was drugged about 20 feet, was taken out to the hospital, and was out of work for several months. Not only is driving and using an electronic device dangerous, it's against the law in Washington. While summer may be the busiest season for road construction, remember that Public Works crews are out 24/7, 365 days a year responding to emergencies, repairs, or routine maintenance to keep Clark County roads open and safe. Drive slowly through the work zone so that they can give everybody a little bit of extra space and a little bit of time to react. Remember to slow down, pay attention, and be patient.

3:21 For more information on driving through work zones safely, visit Clark County Public Works at clark.wa.gov/publicworks/drivesafelyworkzones. This summer, get ready to blast off to fun. The 2026 Clark County Fair is back. Bringing 10 days of live music, heart-pounding action, amazing food, carnival rides, animals, and non-stop fun for the whole family. This year's entertainment lineup is bigger than ever. Friday, August 7th, Midland takes the stage. Saturday, August 8th, relive the ultimate throwback party with the I Love the '90s tour. Featuring Vanilla Ice, Tone Lope, and Young MC. And Sunday, August 9th, Collective Soul rocks the fair live. Reserved concert seats close to the stage are on sale now.

4:17 The excitement keeps going all week long with grandstand events free with gated mission. Experience hell on hooves bull riding and rough stock rodeo. Cheer on future cowboys and cowgirls during mutton busting. Feel the adrenaline with side-by-side racing and tough trucks. Don't miss two huge days and nights of monster trucks featuring Megasaurus, the giant fire-breathing T-Rex. Then blast off into the all-new Mars Encounters attraction only at the 2026 Clark County Fair. Light up your summer on the Carnival Midway with thrilling rides, classic fair games, and fun around every corner. From unforgettable concerts and thrilling grandstand action to classic fair food, carnival rides, and summer memories waiting to happen. There's only one place to be this August, the 2026 Clark County Fair, August 7th through 16th, summer's best party. Get tickets and plan your visit now at ClarkCoFair.com.

5:14 On February 23rd, April 4th became Deputy Clark County Manager. Recently we spoke with her to learn about her background, priorities, and role in supervising a variety of departments, including community development, animal control, and public works. Hello, I'm Jim Denman with Clark County Closup. Thank you so much for meeting with us. Thank you, I'm so excited to be back. Well, please tell us about your background. Alright, so I've spent almost my entire career leading people and making things more efficient. Improving processes, I guess. I'm deeply passionate about both those things. Over the years I've held leadership roles both in local government and in the private sector, always centered around customer service and efficiency. I left Clark County about this time last year to become the administrator for Parks and Outdoor for Chattanooga, Tennessee.

6:14 That was a wild ride, but I missed home. So when this opportunity came up, I jumped at it. And what were your previous roles in Clark County government? I was the community development director for about four years. So what made you jump for this job? For the director job? The director job. Yeah, Clark County's growing, and with growth comes opportunity and responsibility. What drew me into this role was the chance to shape how to meet the needs of the residents in this growing environment, whether that's safe infrastructure or responsive services, planning for a sustainable future. I'm also excited about the opportunity to support such dedicated teams. The Clark County staff has always impressed me with how hard they work, and I want to be part of that again. I'm energized by complex challenges, and we have those, so I'm excited to be back. Yes, great.

7:13 So explain for the viewers what is the role of the deputy county manager, and are you overseeing certain departments? Yeah, so the deputy county manager ensures that the county operations run smoothly, efficiently, and with a clear focus on serving the public. I currently oversee community development, public works, and helping to stand up a public defense office for the county. These departments have a huge impact on people's daily lives, so my role is to support department directors and align efforts with county-wide priorities, help remove barriers for teams so that things run more smoothly. Okay. So how have you been transitioning back into this role? So the transition's been really collaborative. I'm spending a lot of time listening, meeting staff, residents, community partners, and seeing where the needs are and what can be improved. And what we're doing well, too, you know, you don't want to lose that.

8:13 I've also been focused on continuity, so making sure that the projects that are already underway continue to move forward. And then the county is fortunate, again, to have talented, committed employees, and so that's made the transition really good, too. Great. People already know. As we previously discussed, you were community development director. Can you give us an update on how busy the department is with new applications and how this will impact housing? Yes. So community development continues to be very active, especially with residential permits. So that's encouraging because it means more housing options are coming to the market. At the same time, we know affordability and supply chain can be challenging, and we have a challenging environment as far as that goes. So our focus is to keep the permitting process as reliable, predictable, and fast as possible so that builders can keep bringing houses to the market, and we can keep maintaining safe and quality standards. Okay.

9:12 Now, I believe community development has been very proactive by holding learning lab sessions on a variety of permitting processes. Can you tell us about these sessions and where people can find them? Yeah, so learning labs, they're one of the things I'm most proud of, the initiatives I put into place before I left. They're open, accessible sessions that teach builders and designers and the public about our processes. Some of our processes can be very complex to someone who doesn't understand, and so we make these videos, these tutorials, to show people how to do that. But we also have other things, like under community development's umbrellas, animal control, code enforcement, and the fire marshal's office. And we have learning labs about those, too, how to keep you safe, how to keep your pets safe. And then recently, other departments have started. So the assessor's office actually did one last year, and that was really popular. And then this year, Clean Water and Noxious Weeds will be doing one, too.

10:09 So you can find those at www.clark.wa.gov, and you go under departments, community development, and then there's learning labs. Last year's are archives. This year's are live on there. And then I really want to thank CVTV because they record them for us, and we couldn't do it without you. Sure, and that's great. So you mentioned animal control. Summertime is, we're recording this in the middle of May, so summer is just around the corner. Can you talk about the dangers of leaving dogs in parked cars? Yeah, absolutely. And today's going to be 80, so today's a prime example. Even on a mild day, though, temperatures inside a parked car can get extremely hot really fast, and becoming dangerous or even deadly to pets and animals. And dogs can experience heat stroke much faster than people. I always think, think proportional. That's why kids are affected, too. So kids and dogs, the safest choice during the summer is to actually leave your pet at home unless you can bring them inside.

11:07 Our animal control officers see preventable tragedies every single day, and we just want to keep your animals safe. Okay. And then, as a reminder, why is it important to license your pets? Yeah, licensing is one of the simplest things you can do to keep your pet safe. If we find your pet or someone else finds your pet, we can act, if it's licensed, we can get it back to you without it having to go into the shelter, which can be traumatizing for the animal and expensive to get your animal out. So it prevents that, but it's also critical. We use licensing fees. They're critical to finance the community services that we do, like shelter operations, enforcement, public outreach. It's a small step and it makes a big difference, and we at Animal Control like to say, "If you love your pet, license your play." Okay. Summer is also a busy time for parks. Can you give us an update on the Louisville Park Shelter? Yes. So, Louisville Park is one of our community's treasures and has thousands of visitors who enjoy it every year.

12:06 It's my personal favorite park. I used to walk it almost every day. We've had a fire there recently in one of our historic structures. It was built before 1940. It's under an active investigation, so I can't share much about that, but the park did reopen on May 13th, and it is unfortunate. Summer is our busiest season, and it was fully booked, and so those that have to be canceled or rebooked in other locations, because all the other structures in Louisville Park were booked too. So, yeah, it's unfortunate. Now, you know, thinking of people go out to parks, they're usually very clean and pristine. Could you tell me, how many parks does your team maintain? Yeah, we maintain 111 parks or sites and over 7,000 acres in Clark County. And, yeah, a hard-working park staff that keeps those safe, clean, and welcoming. Amazing. Is there anything else you'd like to share with our viewers?

13:03 Yeah. I just want to say how grateful I am to be back in the community. Clark County is a wonderful place to be and to work and to live. I'm just committed to making sure our services are what the residents need and want, and so I'm open to any feedback, and please reach out. If you have feedback, if you even just want a conversation, I'm here. We're here. I'm here to listen. Okay, and what's the best way to contact you? Yeah, that would help. The phone number for the Clark County County Manager Office, which is where I'm at, is 564-397-2232. Or you can reach us at www.clark.wa.gov/county-manager. Well, thank you so much for meeting with us, and welcome back. Thank you.

13:52 Summer is synonymous with barbecues, parades, and fireworks. When setting off fireworks, it's important to practice fireworks safety. In the United States, we have about 15,000 fireworks injuries annually. The Clark County Fire Marshal's Office wants the community to know the rules and regulations for fireworks safety. In Clark County, you're allowed to purchase fireworks from June 28th at noon to July 4th at 11 p.m. Fireworks can be discharged from 9 a.m. to midnight on July 4th in the unincorporated parts of Clark County. Each city has their own regulations, so you need to make sure and find out what they are. Fireworks safety techniques that people can employ during the 4th of July are Use only consumer fireworks that are legal in the state of Washington. To be sure they are legal, only purchase from a permitted fireworks stand in Clark County. Never let children play with fireworks.

14:51 Always have a hose available in case anything goes wrong, and never use drugs or alcohol when using fireworks. It is also very important to clean up your firework debris and soak the used firework leftovers in a container filled with water. Be aware of the fallout zone when using aerial fireworks. For more information about fireworks safety, the rules, and regulations, please visit clark.wa.gov/community-development/fireworks

15:31 More time is upon us, and with warmer temperatures comes outdoor activities, including boating and swimming. Clark County staff want to remind residents of the risks of entering natural water bodies, especially the Columbia River at parks like Frenchman's Bar. Local outdoor swimming areas don't have lifeguards. Swift currents, sudden drop-offs, hidden hazards, and cold water temperatures can put even the strongest swimmers at risk. Hi, I'm Austin Moyer. I work with Clark County Public Health for the recreational water safety team. The Columbia River is great for a lot of reasons. It is especially terrible for swimmers. These areas, Columbia River runs really cold. Usually, cold shock for swimmers tends to happen anything below 60 Fahrenheit. That compounded with the fact that it's got a very, very strong current. It's also affected by tidal forces, so that current is not consistent. And then it's got a pretty steep drop-off, too.

16:30 If you choose to swim in rivers and other natural bodies of water, do not swim alone. Don't jump off bridges or cliffs, and always wear a life jacket. Hi, I'm Ross Hoover, Clark County Parks and Nature. Bring a life jacket. Wear a life jacket. Have a life ring with you that somebody can toss you if you get into trouble. And then have those people around you who are able to call for help if you do get in trouble. The other element underneath the water is any milfoil or any plant growth underneath the water that you may not know is there when you get in. And you can encounter a patch of it, and all of a sudden it wraps around your legs. You need to be very cautious about what's underneath that. Parents should carefully supervise children when they are in or around water. Supervision requires complete attention, so avoid distractions like cell phones. If you are swimming with children, or even if you just have children at the park, keep a very, very close eye on them at all times.

17:30 It doesn't take them very long to rush over to the water. Drowning is the leading cause of death for children age one to four. So that's why it's especially important to make sure they're wearing a life jacket, and two, you're keeping a very, very close eye on them. For adults or teenagers, life jacket definitely for these kind of natural waters where it's cold, there's a strong current. The county's designated swim beaches, places such as Kleinline Pond, Battleground Lake, and Vancouver Lake, offer safer options for swimming. They have gradually sloped banks, roped off areas for swimming, and no current. But whether swimming at designated swim beaches or other natural bodies of water, caution is advised. People love to go swim in our natural bodies of water. We have some great parks that give you access to those bodies of water, and they're packed with people in the summer. So, be cautious. It's important for swimmers to know their limits before entering the water.

18:28 Drowning often occurs when swimmers tire after underestimating the conditions of the water, or overestimating their abilities. If you're uncertain that you're going to be able to meet the demands that the water's going to make of you, definitely don't bet your life on it. Another important part is to stay sober while swimming, or boating, or tubing. Drugs and alcohol is going to significantly increase the likelihood of drowning. Staying sober with a buddy are all kind of great ways to stay safe out there. For more information about swimming areas in Clark County and swimming safety tips, visit clark.wa.gov/publicworks/swimming.

19:12 ♪♪♪