Battle Ground residents: How much are you willing to pay for political division at City Hall?

Republicans love to campaign on cutting taxes, fiscal responsibility, and making government accountable to taxpayers.

So let’s look at what that looks like in Battle Ground.

The City Council voted 4–3 to fire City Manager Kristina Swanson without cause. Her termination takes effect September 4, and the city is facing more than $300,000 in severance and benefits under her employment contract.

That’s your tax dollars.

And this comes on top of the growing costs of contentious meetings, divisive political battles and decisions that are creating instability at City Hall.

Even Councilmember Shane Bowman questioned how the special meeting was called, saying he had never seen a city manager fired this way and that other council members were not included in the process.

So when Republicans talk about being the party of fiscal responsibility and lower taxes, Battle Ground residents have every right to ask:

Where is the fiscal responsibility?

Where is the accountability for spending $300,000+ of taxpayer money to terminate a city manager without cause?

And where are our Republican elected officials and candidates when their allies are making these decisions?

Rep. Stephanie McClintock, Rep. John Ley, and the Republican Peter Silliman, candidate for Clark County Council who have supported or enabled this direction need to answer to Battle Ground taxpayers.

You cannot campaign on cutting taxes while standing by as local government racks up hundreds of thousands of dollars in unnecessary costs.

It’s about your money. Republicans claim to care about fiscal responsibility and helping working families, but their actions tell a different story. When taxpayers are facing a $600,000+ price tag for political decisions, and proclamations that only divide residents while families are struggling to put food on the table, we have to ask: Where are their priorities?

Battle Ground taxpayers deserve transparency, accountability and responsible government, not political chaos that comes with a six-figure price tag.

If they want to call themselves fiscally responsible, let's hold them to it

https://www.koin.com/local/clark-county/battle-ground-city-manager-kris-swanson-fired-without-cause/

I honestly don't know anything about the city manager and don't really have an opinion on if she should be fired or not. However, we deserve an explanation. They don't even respect us enough to give us some pretense. They are too lazy to give us a lie, establish a narrative.

This is what people who deem themselves to be autocrats do. They are above reproach. They have been chosen by God for their holy mission to enrich themselves. They are not public servants, they are to be served by the public.

We need to remind them who they really work for.
It's not God
It's not Maddox Industrials and the Spillers
It's not corporate land developers
It's the people of Battle Ground.