Camas City Council Member Steve Hogan Announces Mayoral Run

Camas, WA — Camas City Council member Steve Hogan announced Thursday he’s running for Camas Mayor following this week’s abrupt resignation of the city’s former chief executive, Barry McDonnell.

Hogan, who’s served on council for 16 years, and has 30 years of managerial experience, said he’s well qualified for the position.

“I am running to help stabilize our city government,” said Hogan. “I believe in preserving and improving our Camas heritage of being a city that prides itself on a strong city government, outstanding school system and a high quality of life. I support the vision of Camas as a place where people who live in Camas, work in Camas. We need to do what we can to assure that we grow at a rate that is sustainable. As a city, we have prided ourselves on good financial management. We need to have balanced financial strength in the future while sustaining our high quality of life. I have pride in knowing that Camas is, has been and will be a great place to live, work and play.”

Hogan acknowledges the challenges of the last 14 months given the pandemic, and expresses gratitude to McDonnell.

“I want to thank Barry for stepping up and leading the city in a troubled time during COVID,” he said. “He changed staff and dealt with other pressing issues. He took care of them. Thank you very much.”

Hogan stands on his record of “hundreds of votes” and support of many initiatives, which currently include working to clean up of local lakes.

“Let’s figure out what needs to be fixed at City Hall so people can feel good about their jobs as soon as possible,” said Hogan. “I’m here to serve, I’ve been in government and worked in the private sector for 30 years in industrial management — in steel, wood, and recycled paper.”

He said the city has a “great history and huge potential and we just have to improve the communication of what is taking place, and make sure that the whole organization is working together effectively.” 

“The local organizations, such as the Chamber of Commerce, the Downtown Camas Association, and others, all need to know we’re here to help them be successful and have our city be successful. It’s worked well in the past. Now that COVID is turning the corner we can get back to more normal circumstances and work with community. It’ll be better to have open meetings.” 

Hogan officially applied for the mayor position by mail, and hasn’t decided whether to apply for a council appointment or just run for citywide election in November.

He stands on his vote to have citizens vote on Proposition 2, the pool bond. “I felt the process was rushed and my advice was to wait and do more research. Then Mayor Turk wanted council to vote on whether to build the community center and I felt it should be decided by the voters. Personally, I was against building the community center.”

The Lacamas Watershed Ad Hoc Committee is working with Senator Ann Rivers, Rep. Larry Hoff, and Rep. Brandon Vick to obtain grant money to start the process to improve water quality at Lacamas, Round, and Fallen Leaf Lakes. 

“We are in the process of presenting staff the consulting group,” he said. “When approved, this will get to where we have a defined program on how we work on water quality. We are also working with the Clark County Health Department and the city storm water department.”

Hogan’s other work includes:

• Member of the Board of Directors of the Columbia River Economic Development Council 
• Member of the Camas Washougal Rotary Club
• Downtown Camas Economic Vitality committee member
• Mayor Pro Tem position (2014 and 2017)
• Past President of the Camas Educational Foundation

Hogan and his family have lived in Camas for 27 years.