Contested race for county commissioner

PULLMAN – There is a contested race for County Commissioner District Two, as incumbent Republican Dean Kinzer is being challenged by Independent Tom Handy.

Handy, 63, owner of Paradise Creek Brewery, filed late Friday, May 15, to run for County Commissioner District Two.

Handy is currently serving on the Coeur d'Alene Lake Shore Property Owners Association board, President of the Cottonwood Bay Lane Property Owners Association and a founding board member and President of the Downtown Pullman Association.

"I thought that now is the time to make a larger impact in the area in which I live and run for commissioner," Handy said. "Just in the last two months, I have had to reinvent my businesses to cope with the COVID-19 caused shutdowns. It requires lots of out-of-the-box thinking and the ability to look for non-traditional sources of revenue. I believe the county will be in the same predicament over the next several years as the impact of this pandemic ripples through our economy."

Commissioner Kinzer, 66, said he believes the county has an excellent team of elected officials and would like to continue to serve as a county commissioner.

"We have improved many county functions for our citizens and I would like to continue being a part of the team that makes more improvements," Kinzer said.

County commissioners are elected to a four-year term. The annual salary for a Whitman County Commissioner is $74,430. The salary for county commissioners and other elected officials will remain the same for the 2021 fiscal year after a meeting of the Citizen's Commission on Salaries for Elected Officials.

The Salary Commission decided, due to the economic impact of the coronavirus, to freeze the salaries of elected officials for the following year.

In 2019, the commission raised salaries across the board by three percent. The Salary Commission sets the salaries for the auditor, assessor, county clerk, treasurer, commissioners, coroner, prosecutor and sheriff.

Commissioners serve as the chief administrators to many different county operations. Primary duties include levying taxes to operate the county and adopting a balanced budget for each calendar year.

Whitman County Commissioner Republican Art Swannack and Whitman County Superior Court Judge Gary Libey were not challenged.