Incumbents stay in commish race

Both incumbent Kitsap County commissioners up for won re-election this week — South Kitsap’s Jan Angel and North Kitsap’s Chris Endresen — won their challenges in Tuesday night’s general election.

Endresen defeated Kingston businessman Scott Henden by margin of 41,334 votes (52.47 percent) to 37,509 (47.53 percent). Angel prevailed over her predecessor on the board of commissioners, Charlotte Garrido, 41,334 (53.04 percent) to 36,653 (46.80 percent).

The numbers were current as of Thursday morning but were not expected to change significantly, according to director of elections Dolores Gilmore.

Democrat Endresen, the senior commissioner, earned a third term while Republican Angel begins her second term.

Central Kitsap Commissioner Patty Lent, a Republican, was first elected in 2002 and will face voters again in two years.

In a time where the makeup of the board usually changes every two years, the continuity resulting from four years of with no changes is rare. This, according to County Administrator Malcolm Fleming, is a good thing.

“It takes quite a while for people to learn the issues and all the players,” he said. “Right now, all of the commissioners are up to speed. We don’t have to spend any time in a learning process. Whenever you get someone new, it can take a while for the other board members to learn about how they approach things.”

This is seconded by local consultant William Campbell, himself a former director of the Department of Community Development. “With the exception of Chris Endresen, I felt that the commissioners have been struggling to get a grasp of how things work,” he said. “Now we can look forward to a time when all three commissioners have their feet on the ground. They’re running one of the bigger businesses in the county, and have given us a better-managed county courthouse.”

The tone of the two races differed, with the North Kitsap contest more heated. By contrast, the Angel/Garrido contest lacked

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