Unofficial voters’ pamphlet: Second installment of profiles of council candidates

The second segment of the Gazette’s unofficial voters guide for contested town seats in the county this week includes candidates for offices in Palouse, Rosalia and Malden.

Ballots for the general election are scheduled to be mailed out Friday from the county auditor’s office. Ballots must be postmarked no later than Nov. 3, date of the general election.

Some candidates for the Malden town council did not respond to Gazette requests for interviews. For council seat one, incumbent Christina Ferrell is running against Todd Deckard. For council seat two, incumbent Tami Van Dyke is running against Ginnifer Murray. For council seat three, incumbent Shannon Roe is running against James Hanks.

PALOUSE

Cecil Floyd running for council seat three

Experience: Has worked for WSU for 23 years in communications and the university telephone operating system.

Goals: Sees a need for stronger infrastructure and helping attract businesses. Wants to help out with the city’s long-term goals and give back to the community.

Randy Zehm running for council seat three

Experience: Chief of police in Palouse for eight years, started in 1997. Currently a sheriff with Whitman County, since 2005.

Goals: Zehm said the Palouse council has become increasingly restrictive on a person’s right to speak in their open council meetings (Palouse recently passed a three-minute time limit on people speaking at council meetings). Zehm said he’d like to push for more rights for people speaking at the meetings. He added he’d like to work on Palouse’s troubled budget.

Dixie Reber running for council seat four

Experience: Member of the Palouse Planning Commission for the past year. Has attended the past year of city council meetings.

Goals: Reber has four specific goals for council: fiscal responsibility, rights for free speech, stewardship of the land, and true representation of citizens. “If we work on those four things, I think we’ll be in better shape than we are now,” she said.

Darcie Bagott running to retain council seat four

Experience: Sat on Palouse council for four years, worked at Bagott Motors with husband Mike for the past 10 years.

Goals: Darcie said Palouse has faced a significant reduction in revenue over the past few years. Her goal is to help the city move through these more difficult financial times.

Roger Marcus running for council seat seven

Experience: Retired fourth grade teacher from Colorado. Has spent the first five years of his retirement in Palouse.

Goals: Marcus wants to be a servant of his community and give back to what he sees as a “good place to live.” He added he has “no hidden agenda” with the mayor or the council, and is satisfied with the way things have been going for the town. He has an interest in working on the Brownsfield project as well.

David Arrasmith running for council seat seven

Experience: Has worked for Schweitzer Engineering for the past 10 years, the last five as a manufacturing engineering specialist.

Goals: Arrasmith said he’d like to be more in the know and more involved in Palouse city matters. He said he doesn’t necessarily have a political agenda, rather, he’d just like to contribute to the city’s well-being.

ROSALIA

Jim Stenhouse running for Mayor

Experience: Council member since 2003. Employed at Garco Building Systems in Airway Heights.

Goals: Stenhouse said the town has made great strides in improving its water system and sewer lagoons and he wants to make sure those projects are completed. He said a strong infrastructure will allow the town to draw in new businesses. Stenhouse added the friendly nature of Rosalia citizens should be used to recruit those businesses.

Brady Kiesz running for Mayor

Experience: Vice President of Chamber of Commerce, chair of Horizons group and manager of K & S Engineering in Rosalia.

Goals: Kiesz said his number one priority is to bring back a sense of pride in Rosalia. He said his unique passion makes him suited to bring together disputing groups to work for a common purpose. Kiesz hopes to unite the town council’s efforts with those of the chamber of commerce and school district. A more united town will be more attractive to new businesses and new residents, he said.

Dan Brown running to retain council seat one

Experience: Council member since 2003. Systems administrator for Washington State University.

Goals: Brown said he hopes to continue improvements to city infrastructure by maintaining strong relationships with state and federal agencies. He also wants to improve the town’s relationship with organizations in town.

Pat Voge running for council seat one

Experience: Retired teacher, owner of Pat’s Books. Former council member ending in 2006. Chair of Chamber of Commerce Kite Festival.

Goals: To unite the efforts of the town, chamber of commerce and parks to better build a strong sense of community. Voge, along with a slate of opposition candidates, has pledged to serve for $1 a year, instead of the current rate of $100 per meeting.

Ronald Hilfiker running to retain council seat three

Experience: Appointed to seat in 2006. Re-elected to a two-year term in 2007. Retired truck driver for Nabisco.

Goals: Hilfiker said he wants to continue efforts to ensure the health of the city’s water lines while still keeping town taxes low. He noted he has voted against every proposed increase in Rosalia taxes, including the utility tax instituted last year.

Danette Merritt running for council seat three

Experience: Life-long resident of Rosalia, owner of AAG Insurance in Colfax. Past member of Rosalia planning commission.

Goals: Merritt said she wants to make sure the town is more responsible and accountable in how it spends tax dollars. She also listed improvements of the town’s water, sewer and road systems as her areas of focus. She has joined pledge to take a $1 per year salary for council position.

Erin Braun running for council seat five, being vacated by Jim Stenhouse

Experience: Member of Horizons committee and employee of Rosalia Health Clinic.

Goals: Braun said she wants to represent the young families of Rosalia. She noted current and past councils have not had members with small children. Braun said a priority is to complete a Horizons goal of developing a community center for youth and senior activities.

Karen F. Rockness running for council seat five

Experience: Life-long Rosalia resident, former bank manager and council member.

Goals: To make Rosalia a more business-friendly community. Rockness said she wants to recruit businesses to set up shop in Rosalia to strengthen the tax base. She also wants to obtain grant funding for infrastructure maintenance and improvements.

MALDEN

Ted Maxwell running to retain council seat as Mayor

Experience: Elected in 2007 to fill vacant mayor’s seat. Former Clarkston city council member and retired postal employee.

Goals: To continue the turn-around of town’s finances. Maxwell noted the council increased the town coffers more than $60,000 in the two years he has been Mayor. He added he wants to continue improvements to make Malden a more attractive place for retirees.

Linda Hanks running for Mayor

Experience: Member of town council until 2007. Volunteered with town food bank for more than two years.

Goals: Wants more communication between citizens and town hall. Hanks had a list of projects she would like to see done, but thought her goal of lowering taxes might hamper the ability to accomplish them.