They’re the only lawmakers in Clark County who draw full-time salaries — $96,000 annually, thank you very much — but what do they do all day? Amid routine duties such as budget talks and hearings about a new I-5 bridge, the county’s three commissioners have each chosen major projects for the rest of this year. Here’s a look at one top priority for each of them, how they got into each issue and how you can get involved. 

Marc Boldt

• Project: New zoning plan for rural areas.
• What might happen: Some agricultural zoning might change from allowing only 20- to 40-acre parcels to permitting 5- or 10-acres. Rural centers, such as Duluth and Amboy, might expand.
• Boldt says: “From 1994, when the very first (growth) plan was done, there essentially was a lot of hard feelings that zoning was done in the rural area without (residents’) input. And so this is the first time we’re going out to the rural people and ask what they want for their area.”
• The back story: After the county restricted rural land owners’ rights to subdivide in 1994, the land value of Boldt’s blueberry farm cratered. He lost his mortgage and the farm — and got into politics.
• Weigh in: Boldt is looking for people who live outside Clark County’s urban areas to join a task force on rural planning. To learn more, call 360-397-2232.

Steve Stuart

• Project: Cut carbon footprint of county operations.
• What might happen: County could buy two wind turbines and start burning wood scraps to offset employees’ energy use, among other changes.
• Stuart says: “Something that I think a lot of governments and a lot of businesses and a lot of individuals are trying to figure out is trying to make environmental stewardship economically viable.”
• The back story: As an environmental lobbyist, Stuart drove 70 miles a day. Now, he works a mile from his house and drives a hybrid car. He figures he saves $100 a month and gets to eat lunch with his dogs.
• Weigh in: Pete DuBois, a county waste reduction specialist, coordinates a county committee on the issue. Contact him at 360-397-6118, ext. 4961, or peter.dubois@clark.wa.gov with ideas.

Betty Sue Morris

• Project: Carve identity for Three Creeks area
• What might happen: New design standards for commercial projects in Hazel Dell, Salmon Creek, Felida and Lake Shore; a separate urban growth area for the neighborhoods.
• Morris says: “You drive on the east side, you get brick. You drive in Three Creeks, you get cinderblock.”
• The back story: Morris moved to Felida in 1978 and has been a longtime advocate of commercial development nearby. Last year, she arranged for “quality restaurants” in the area to get a 20-percent break in traffic impact fees, an incentive likely to be worth more than $10,000 to some future developer. She’s long bristled at Vancouver’s attempts to speak for the area: when the area held a vote on whether to form a city in 1997, she voted in favor.
• Weigh in: The new Three Creeks Advisory Council, chaired by Morris, holds its second meeting next Thursday from 10 a.m. to noon at the Clark Regional Wastewater District office in Hazel Dell, 8000 N.E. 52nd Court.