PRESS RELEASE 25 JUNE 2012
Female Vet Vies for Against 3 Men for Commission Job
Mary Repar, a 15-year US Air Force Reserve veteran, faces
three men in the August primary, in the Skamania County District #2 Commissioner
race. In a county dominated by
Republicans in elected offices, Repar is going against the odds as an
independent Democrat. Repar states, “Our
county faces some rough times, now and in the future. How we got here should be a lesson learned
and this lesson should provide impetus for changing the way business is
conducted. Our future should be based on
accountability and transparency in our government. We should look at these challenges as
opportunities to make our county a better place to live and work, for all of
us.”
Considered too radical by some for advocating more
vocational educational opportunities for adults and more science training for
community children, Repar believes that Skamania’s future lies in becoming a
county with the best educated people who will be able to work on the NEON
project and other projects that deal with global climate change. NEON—the National Ecological Observation
Network, which has been approved, but still does not have adequate funding, for
the USFS portion of the Wind River Nursery, can be an incubator for high paying
local jobs. Repar says, “I see this
program as a way to keep and bring our children home to Skamania County. This project will provide family wage jobs
for our community. I want to make sure that
it is our citizens who get these jobs.”
Ms. Repar also wants the Gifford Pinchot
National Forest to be
used to earn money for the county, but not by cutting down more trees than
necessary for forest health. “Carbon
sequestration is an important tool in the fight against global climate change,
which is already happening. Carbon
sequestration can help us earn money through cap and trade. Instead of fighting over the Gifford Pinchot,
we can make it work for us and help our environment at the same time. Why spend our time and energy re-fighting the
same old battles? We can pool our
resources to fight for a better future for us and our children.”
Ms. Repar has a scientific and analytical background, having
worked as a geophysicist for major oil companies, both in the U.S. and overseas, and having
worked as a Intelligence Officer in the USAF Reserves. She also advocates for county energy
independence and conservation. Her goal
is to make homes and businesses energy independent by working to get grants and
loans for upgrades and renovations to existing buildings and homes. “Solar energy and innovative rooftop wind
turbines are just a start. Fuel cells
for homes and businesses are now a reality and should be investigated. The Sixth Northwest Conservation and Electric
Power Plan states, ‘…substantial amounts of conservation to be cheaper and more
sustainable than most other types of generation… The plan finds enough
conservation to be available and cost-effective to meet 85 percent of the
region’s load growth for the next 20 years,’” Repar says. “We can do this. It’s not impossible. But we have to think and plan ahead.”
Perhaps Repar’s most innovative goal is to garner Federal
dollars for Skamania County through changing the Secure Rural
Schools and Community
Self-Determination Act into a retooled “Secure Resources Act.” Ms. Repar states, “Skamania County
produces fresh, clean water and lots of nice, clean oxygen for our fellow
humans, and I believe we should be rewarded for keeping our county in forests
and waterways instead of developing it.
To that end, the Federal government should pay us for our
resources. The Secure Rural
Schools and Community
Self-Determination Act needs to be re-tooled into the Secure Resources Act.”
Repar has other goals for Skamania. If elected she wants to work on the following
issues:
- Utilities--Undergrounding our
utility poles so that we don’t have to worry as much about storm outages,
and to provide a safer working environment for our utility workers. The aesthetics of our locales are being
impacted and this impacts our quality of life, and it impacts tourism, one
of our main economies. We can work
with other government entities to achieve this benefit for our community.
- Small Business Incubators: Work on getting our small businesses to
be the incubators of our work force.
It is small businesses that will make our community stronger and keep
it thriving. If we depend on one or
two big employers, then we will be subject to their ups and downs—and in a
small community those ups and downs can be devastating to both our
citizens’ and our county’s welfare.
- Affordable High Speed Internet: If we want to have businesses in rural
areas that don’t have the populace to support these businesses, then we
will have to help our small business people with affordable high speed
Internet services that will open up their economic horizons and bring
their products and services to the attention of a wider audience.
- Education: Work with our school district to provide
sites and opportunities for ongoing adult education, night school classes,
and other opportunities for adult learning and re-training.
As District #2 commissioner, Ms. Repar will make sure that constituents
are kept in the loop on decisions that affect their lives and livelihoods. “There is no worse feeling than to be
blindsided by events about which one knew nothing or was not forewarned. We have to look to the future instead of
dwelling on the past. I want to work for
the people of District #2 and Skamania
County. Together, we can achieve our common goals by
pooling our resources and working toward a better future,” Repar says.
Currently, Ms. Repar is the Secretary for the Skamania Lions
Club, serves on the Stevenson Board of Adjustment, and is president of the
Stevenson Grange. She has also served on
the following: County Fair Board,
Skamania County Public Health Advisory Board, and Stevenson’s Comprehensive
Plan Review Committee. Ms. Repar was
president of the Friends of the Stevenson Library for 12 years. Her hobbies are mushrooming, reading, and
artistic endeavoring.
She worked as a geophysicist in the oil industry, and served
in the U.S. Air Force Reserve as an Intelligence Officer, retiring as
Major. Her education includes a B.S. in
Applied Physics from Michigan Technological University,
Houghton, Michigan.
]Mary Repar has a blog, skamanianewsportal.blogspot.com and
can be followed on Facebook, Repar for Skamania County Commissioner. Reach Mary at telephone number 509.427.7153.]
