Baker named new Farmington mayor

Garth Meyer, Gazette Reporter | Jul 29, 20150

The Farmington city council appointed councilman Dave Baker as the town’s new mayor July 20.

The vote puts the four-year city councilman into the top post following James Woomack’s resignation, effective June 26.

Baker, who was mayor pro-tem, acted as a stand-in for the past three months while Woomack was in Indiana helping to take care of his in-laws.

“I can’t get to the meetings as I should,” Woomack said, citing the reason for his resignation. “There’s a lot I’d have liked to do for the town, but I’ll still help out, just not in an official capacity.”

Baker took the oath of office after his selection in a 2 to 1 vote over fellow councilor Noreen Ewing. Joel Abbott was chosen as the new mayor pro-tem.

“As senior member of the council, I felt it was my duty to step up,” Baker said, a 20-year Farmington resident who moved from Port Orchard.

A native of San Dimas, Calif., he came to the northwest in the ‘70s as an Army tank gunner stationed at Fort Lewis.

“Dave’s gonna be an excellent mayor,” said Woomack, who succeeded Ron Dugan as mayor in January 2014, appointed by the city council, running unopposed.

Earlier this year, Woomack completed a graveling project with volunteer labor from Baker, Abbot and former mayor Royce Johnson. Woomack also oversaw the installation of a series of new street signs which met Department of Transportation standards – changing out from original wood street signs.

“I feel good getting those all marked,” Woomack said. “It was one of last things I got finished.”

Baker now takes over in a time of money and growth questions.

“I’ll be trying to run the town with as little expense as possible,” Baker said. “To build up a bank account. We need to have matching funds for grants.”

Baker works full-time as a maintenance mechanic at Washington State University.

He will not have set office hours at city hall, but welcomes people to set appointments.

One issue that may come up in Farmington during Baker’s term is growth.

“Some people want to grow and develop this town. I am not totally for that,” he said. “There’s a reason I moved here, and a reason people have lived here their whole lives and never left.”

Baker is married with two children in their early 20s, one a graduate of Garfield-Palouse High School and one a graduate at Tekoa High School.

Woomack and his wife Kaye moved to Farmington in 2011 and plan to stay.

“I like this town,” he said. “This is one of the best places I’ve ever lived.”

Before moving to Farmington, Woomack served in the Navy for 26 years and worked for Raytheon in airplane manufacturing at Wichita, Kan., and as a municipal water operator in Macintosh County, Okla.

Stationed in several domestic and international bases with the Navy, Woomack worked as a structural hydraulic mechanic on the P-3 Orion patrol aircraft before retiring as a Chief Petty Officer in 1993.

Afterwards, he and his family moved to Oklahoma, where he had spent part of his childhood.