SUQUAMISH — A well-known Suquamish resident who has been working to incorporate local leadership into his own community during the past year has decided to try and work for the agency that he feels has neglected his own community — the county government.

Matthew Cleverley (R) announced March 24 his bid to run for Kitsap County Commissioner Position 1, which is currently held by Chris Endresen.

While Cleverley recently mentioned he was entertaining the thought of running, he said he wanted to gauge public support first before making his decision.

“I think the response has been that people are being disillusioned with the representation they are having now,” Cleverley explained, noting that residents are ready for someone to work for them, not special interest agendas.

He decided to run because he felt that residents’ voices were not being heard, an aspect he discovered while working the past year as chairman of the Suquamish Incorporation Project.

“People in the incorporation project asked me to take the reins and I took over,” he said about how SIP work helped lead him toward his decision. “I think they see me as a leader. Someone who will stand up and make choices — a kind of roll-up-your-sleeves kind of guy.”

Cleverley is also a member of the board of directors for Friends of Old Man House Park.

Cleverley has never run for political office before but is interested in seeing what he can do for North Kitsap residents.

“I’m excited because it’s doing what I think is right,” he said. “I’m passionate about doing things that are going to help other people.”

He believes Kitsap needs a change in leadership, especially with the county’s latest direction in growth and development. Cleverley’s platform includes appropriate growth and development, affordable housing, budget spending priorities, creating a better job market and improving Kitsap’s quality of life.

“There are so many (development) regulations — not just in North Kitsap but in the county,” he said, noting the rules are so “onerous,” residents can’t do anything with their land, making it hard to afford a place to build a house. “I see people being priced out of homes.”

He believes that housing can become affordable if the county is flexible in how it interprets the state’s Growth Management Act.

“There are things that state law requires and there are things the county has done,” Cleverley explained. “We have to look at those things and see how we can best serve the people.”

Cleverley is an attorney based out of Suquamish who currently practices creditor and collection law in thirteen states. He has lived in Kitsap for three and a half years, one year in Poulsbo and the last two and a half in Suquamish with his wife Jennafer and their three children, ages 14-6.

More information on Cleverley can be found at www.matthewcleverley.com.