Oct. 28—MATTAWA — The South Grant County Chamber of Commerce hosted a candidate and small municipality forum Wednesday evening at Wahluke High School, featuring current officials and candidates for Mattawa City Council and Mayor, Wahluke School Board, Grant County Fire District 8 and Grant County Airport District 1.
Pam Thorsen, secretary for the chamber, said the chamber has recently worked through restructuring and renaming the chamber and is now putting its new focuses into practice.
"Right now what we're trying to do is just build our reputation and start working with some of our neighbors and those service districts that we had (at the forum), trying to get them to think about collaborating, not just doing their own thing," Thorsen said.
After Thorsen's introduction, Columbia Basin Herald Managing Editor R. Hans "Rob" Miller moderated the forum and allowed each of the officials and candidates to discuss issues facing their particular organizations and the community at large.
Council and mayor
Candidates for Mattawa City Council included Fabiola Hernandez and Amanda Havens, both running for position 6, and uncontested candidates Sun Hwang and Alexander Heredia. Jaime Gutierrez, candidate for Mattawa Mayor, also spoke, though incumbent Mayor Maggie Celaya was unable to attend due to a scheduling conflict.
All of the candidates said they wanted to ensure the city had opportunities for youth that would keep them entertained and out of trouble, especially away from gangs.
Candidates also said communicating with the public was a priority, with Heredia saying he would like the city to better utilize its social media platforms.
Hernandez and Havents agreed and added that they would include additional options such as using local bulletin boards to advise residents of upcoming events and community issues. Hernandez said sending newsletters to residents every month or every other month would be a good way to keep the community informed as well. Her opponent, Havens, said any effort would need to contribute to keeping the whole city involved in issues facing the community.
Candidates all said ensuring sufficient water for growth was important, especially if new businesses and housing developments were to be attracted to the city.
School discussion
From the Wahluke School Board, unopposed candidates Seth Weeks and Craig Sabin spoke about the district alongside Superintendent Andrew Harlow. The main focus of the discussion was the current $4 million proposal before voters for upgrades to the school district's facilities.
Harlow said the district has grown over the years and now has about 2,500 students that it serves. He added that, while the tax rate would increase from its current rate, it would still be lower than what it had been in the past. He said that, while not even the school board members wanted to pay increased taxes, it would be necessary in order to ensure students had proper facilities.
"Right now, the short term plan is to fix a couple of things. The HVAC (at the elementary school) — $2.7 million. That has to get fixed over at Mattawa Elementary."
Additional projects include replacing the Wahluke High School football stadium for $350,000 and adding lighting to the soccer field. The tennis courts are also in need of resurfacing, he said.
Harlow said the community would benefit by having good facilities not only for students but also for residents to utilize. Hundreds of people utilize the track and other school facilities to walk, exercise or play games when they're not being used by student teams.
Much of the cost of the school improvements are offset by the school district working to pay off older debts and reducing the number of staff at the district, mostly through attrition as staff and faculty retired or left for other opportunities, Harlow said.
"I just need people to know that, yes, we are asking for 99 cents per $1,000 (in-home value). So, a $300,000 house, that's probably going to be about $300 a year, or $25 a month. It is a new tax, but what my promise is — those projects will get done. These are not going to salaries or go to programs. It will go to those projects, and it's a long-term investment in the kids' future."
Combined with the operations levy, the total tax assessment from the district for property owners would be about $3.49 or $3.50 per $1,000 of assessed value.
Fire position
Unopposed candidate for Grant County Fire District 8 Debra Crain said she has served at the district as a firefighter and board member for some time. The department has grown she said and has brought in a ladder truck and full-time firefighters over the years to ensure safety for residents of South Grant County, including Mattawa and Desert Aire.
Crain advised residents that in order to make their homes safer, they should focus on defensive space and eliminating dried brush and disposable flammable materials from near their homes.
Airport commentary
Unopposed candidates for Grant County Airport District 1 Kenneth Broda and Bob Trantina also spoke at the event.
The pair said the airport district is the only one of its kind in the state and that it primarily works on a volunteer basis and through donations, though it does have taxing authority it is not currently utilizing. They also said the airport provides a draw for business as well as a place for emergency aircraft to land in support of firefighting or medevac operations.
Broda, who said he has been a resident of the Mattawa area for nine years, commented on the forum and its importance at the end of the evening.
"I'm really glad you folks we're able to come out and are interested enough to allow us the opportunity to share with you why we're running for the different positions...Since I moved here, I have observed a community that has a lot of assets that people don't necessarily see as an asset...and we have these assets, so it's good to know the assets are available and how they affect you."
Broda said the issues of the area are all connected.
"Folks were here who are running for City Council here in Mattawa, and I noticed that a lot of them were in agreement with things they thought they could do to improve life here in the city," Broda said. "How does that relate to, for example, the ability for the school system to provide school teachers for more than a five-year period? ... If you learn to look at your community and think of things that are synergistic, things that work well together...that's called working together. If I learned anything from the United States Air Force, it was working together always makes you have a better opportunity for success."
The South Grant County Chamber of Commerce will be posting a recording of the event on its Facebook page at bit.ly/SGCChamber, and the Columbia Basin Herald will be posting the recording as a special episode of the STUDIO BASIN Podcast over the weekend.
Thorsen said the chamber would like to have officials in town hall events more often and will work to let the public know when those situations are scheduled.
Gabriel Davis may be reached at gdavis@columbiabasinherald.com. Download the Columbia Basin Herald app on iOS and Android.
Editor's note: Additional coverage of this event will be published this week in our Sun Tribune page, which comes out Wednesday.
