Vancouver Voters Gavel Down Jeanne Harris in City Council Primary Election

August 6, 2013

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Jeanne Harris.OUTVoters in Vancouver have shown they have a long memory. They pushed Vancouver City Councilwoman Jeanne Harris from her 16 year long perch in today’s primary election. 

Harris came in fourth out of five candidates for the seat in today’s primary election. She’ll leave office in January. 

Jeanne Harris OutHarris came to public infamy nearly three years ago when she ordered out a citizen from a Jeanne Harriscouncil meeting for complaining about tolling proposals for the planned Columbia River Crossing. He was upset that he had been rebuffed at other planning meetings and was hoping the Council would represent his point of view at future meetings. That was not be as Harris verbally wrested the gavel from Mayor Tim Leavitt and ordered the citizen out of the meeting. 

 In tonight’s story about Harris’s loss, The Columbian characterized the notorious exchange this way,

A 2010 video clip of Harris yelling at Mayor Tim Leavitt to “gavel down” an anti-Columbia River Crossing speaker who was making derogatory comments to Harris made her a target for CRC opponents, even though other members of the council supported the project.

But as Lew Waters posted here at the time, that’s not what happened. In fact, Harris was off putting and dismissive of citizens who came to testify against the plans for tolls on a replacement bridge over the Columbia. In fact, the Council had limited the discussion of the issue leaving citizens no other venue to vent about the tolls and Columbia River Crossing. 

The top vote getters to vie for Harris’s seat in November are Anne McEnerny-Ogle and Frank Decker. In other races,  my friend Micheline Doane survived the primary to meet Jack Burkman in the November general election. Jeanne Stewart will fight to keep her seat against Alishia Topper.