Partch seeks fourth term

Joining an already crowded field of challengers, Whitman County Commissioner Greg Partch, 63, Garfield, announced Saturday his plans to seek a fourth term in office.

Partch announced his candidacy at the county Republican party’s convention at the CETC building in Colfax.

Kirk Suess of Steptoe, Bill Tensfeld of Rosalia and Art Swannack of Lamont have all previously announced their candidacies for Partch’s seat on the county commission.

“Having a record to stand on can be an advantage,” Partch said in an interview Monday. “But obviously when you make hard decisions there’s going to be people that are unhappy.”

Partch said his 12 years have included several “hard decisions” that had not been tackled by previous commissioners. He pointed to zoning rewrites that govern rural residential construction, development in the Pullman-Moscow Corridor, construction of cell towers and industrial scale wind turbines, all of which took place under his tenure.

“All of these... they generated controversy,” he said.

Partch’s decision Jan. 3 to increase the county’s contribution to infrastructure construction at Hawkins Companies’ stateline shopping center from $9.1 million to $15 million has generated recent controversy, as well as a lawsuit against the county.

“I still believe everything I’ve done was the right thing to do,” he said.

Partch eyes the Hawkins project as key to shoring up the county’s tax revenue base, which he said was gutted by statewide initiatives 695 and 747 which limited local taxing authority.

“What we’re seeing right now is the result of 747,” he said. “That’s why it’s so important to build our revenue base.”

The Hawkins decision, made on a split vote, has created contention on the board of commissioners. Commissioner Michael Largent has voted against several related decisions made by Partch and Commissioner Pat O’Neill.

“There’s tension. There’s no doubt about that,” said Partch. “This has strained our relationship. But I think we will get it resolved. I think we’re going to make some steps forward on this.”

The Hawkins decision, along with several other controversial decisions in the past have, he said, represented forward thinking by county commissioners.

“You’ve got to have somebody that can recognize opportunity and take it. I think we’ve done a lot of that in the last 12 years,” said Partch.

One of those opportunities, he said, was making efforts to help keep railroad service on the east side of the county. The P&L line was almost scrapped before it was bought by the state in 2005. Operators also faced challenges in keeping enough traffic on the line to keep it in operation.

One of those funding sources came from storage of cars full of chlorine on railroad siding at Belmont.

“We stood behind the chlorine cars at Belmont. That kept that railroad together,” he said.

Under his accomplishments, Partch listed Avista’s construction of high-tension power lines through Whitman County, the widening of the Pullman-Moscow Highway and creating a special reserve account.

“If there’s one thing I’m proudest of in all my years, it’s Whitcom,” he said. “It’s as good as anywhere in the US.”

He said when he was first elected the cooperation of local entities in setting up the center was falling apart. Washington State University was contemplating a withdrawal from the Whitcom board. Those entities eventually pulled together to form the board.

He also pointed to his position on the state Transportation Improvement Board.

When he first joined the board, he said, Whitman County had received less than $1 million in funding for transportation projects. Since he joined, more than $12 million of projects have been funded. With a project in Malden this summer, every town in Whitman County has received TIB funding.

Prior to his first election, Partch worked for 26 years at Arrow Machinery north of Colfax.

He and wife Sherry will celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary this year. The couple has two children, son Greg Jr., who lives in Spokane, and daughter Dawn, who lives in Tennessee. They have also raised several foster children.