Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Tom Handy
Dean Kinzer
As of 6 p.m. Monday, the vote count for county commissioners' district two primary was 1,092 for the challenger and 959 for the incumbent, with under 250 votes left to count.
The challenger is Tom Handy, an independent, owner of Paradise Creek Brewery in Pullman and longtime boardmember for organizations such as the Pullman Chamber of Commerce and the Whitman County Business Development Association. He came to Pullman in 1984 with his wife, as both went to WSU to seek added degrees. They have been in Whitman County since, now living outside city limits off the Moscow-Pullman Highway.
Handy, 63, has never run for office before.
"I'm at the age that if I don't do it now, I probably never will," he said. "I've had different experiences, I've been in business for almost 20 years, engaging with the public, managing budgets, which going forward (at the county) will be... Maybe a different perspective is worthwhile."
What would he like to do if he wins?
"First thing, there's a lot of things that seem to be a little clunky; I'd like to take a look at that... for efficiency. Things that seem inefficient. And there may be good reason. Why is Whitman County one of the last counties to get all of their votes counted, every time? Why are their four different departments for land-use? A number of things from the outside look a little weird... There could be a lot more collaboration, among everybody in government, really, and the opportunities it can create."
In 2001, after 15 years working for WSU in design and technical construction for the university's radio and television department, Handy bought the old post office building and opened The Old Post Office Wine Gallery. A restaurant was later added. Then the 2008 recession hit and the operation changed names, becoming Paradise Creek Brewery, Handy shifting the menu, brewing beer instead of selling wine.
Handy and wife Debbie have three grown sons – who used to take a bus to school driven by Barb Kinzer, wife of Dean Kinzer – the incumbent commissioner in the race.
Handy grew up in the Detroit suburbs of Dearborn and Northville, Mich., and went to University of Wisconsin-Stout in Menomonie for a degree in Industrial Education. After a year and a half living in Madison, he and Debbie went to Seattle, where Handy started a two-man business, buying two pressure washers to clean the wooden shake roofs of Mercer Island, Bellevue, Renton and more.
After the couple moved to Pullman and got jobs, they thought they might stay. Debbie is a professor in the Human Development department at WSU.
"Like a lot of people who come here for school and decide to stay, we became lifers of the area," Handy said. He got his WSU degree in broadcast communications.
Two of his sons work at Paradise Creek, along with an established staff.
Campaigning has been limited in the time of gathering restrictions.
"Just been word of mouth, putting up signs, some social media. Being in business for 20 years, a lot of people have gotten to know me," he said.
How long has he had an interest in politics?
"Well, I've always had my opinion. Those people that do oftentimes want to be able to express it," Handy said. "A person who's been in retail business, that's a whole different way of looking at things... to deal with the public and meet their needs," Handy said.
He is now the presumptive front runner going into the fall.
"It surprised me quite a bit, as a matter of fact," he said. "I'm excited about it. I hope I get the job. I'll put everything I have into it."
The incumbent
Dean Kinzer seeks re-election to the post he has held since 2013.
"My opponent, he has real name recognition, and his ads are running on the radio and he has his signs out really well," Kinzer said.
As a commissioner, Kinzer, a Republican, is now chairman of the executive board for Whitcom – the county's emergency communications system, for which they are working on a new funding model. He served as chairman of the Southeast Washington Economic Development Association for three years and in 2018, was appointed to the state's affordable housing advisory board by Governor Inslee.
"We've just got an excellent team of commissioners," said Kinzer, who has served as the three-member board's president twice.
A former longtime schoolboard member for the Pullman School District, Kinzer, 66, was raised on a farm in Genesee, Idaho, going to school at the classic brick building on the hill.
He went to University of Idaho, planning to be a teacher in ag education.
In the spring of his sophomore year he was called to his uncle's farm south of Pullman – where he had driven tractor, etc. – and they said they would like to lease him the 710-acre farm, if he was interested.
They needed someone that fall to take over.
"At the time, farming was pretty lucrative. I can't say that today," Kinzer said.
At age 20, he took on the farm, moving into a mobile home added to the property. Kinzer continued with one semester of college per year at U. of I., eventually finishing his degree at 26, and later substitute-taught in Genesee.
As a farmer, he joined the Ewartzville Grange, and was elected to the Grange Supply Co-operative board, serving the three-term limit of nine years, mostly as secretary.
"I'm very introverted. That means I listen a lot more than I talk," he said.
The board ran the Grange Supply store in Pullman, which is now Four-Star Supply.
He also served on the board for the formation of Calvary Christian Center in Pullman, part of the team that built the church building. He has two daughters and a step-granddaughter.
Kinzer ultimately served 16 years on the Pullman school board, from 2001-2017 – during the reconstruction of the middle school and the building of a new high school.
He was originally inspired to run for county commissioner after the pledged-funding of the proposed Hawkins shopping complex project by previous county commissioners.
"They were very irresponsible with county funds," Kinzer said. "It took six and a half, seven years to get that resolved."
Why is he running for re-election?
"No. 1, I've really enjoyed it. I'm honored to serve this county... I think we've done an excellent job," he said. "No. 2, we've got projects going I'd like to see completed, followed-through, from GIS (geographic information systems' mapping of the county), to Whitcom potentially owning its own facility to work at Seweda for business."
He mentioned the commissioner's work the past seven years on the county's restricted reserve fund – for emergencies.
"This year we've gotten it up to a responsible level," he said.
It was not before?
"They were operating hand-to-mouth," Kinzer said.
He and commissioners Michael Largent and Art Swannack also started a separate county operating reserve fund, in Kinzer and Swannack's first year, so departments could stop "padding" budgets in case of unexpected expenses.
If he wins re-election in November, Kinzer indicated that 2020 will affect the county's work to come.
"I think we're gonna have our hands full for where we're at because of the shakeout from COVID, it will be a matter of controlling expenses for the next four years," he said. "I don't see any bright and shiny new functions in the county anytime soon."
Watching expenses is something he continues to do in his regular work. He and wife Barb still lease the land they farm, giving one-third of proceeds to the landlord each year.
"(In farming), we don't get to charge an extra margin and that will be my income," he said. "We sell at whatever price the world markets deem. I know how to cut expenses, stretch every penny there is, and I've been doing it for years."
What are his plans for the fall campaign?
"I'm shoulder-deep in harvest right now," Kinzer said, with barley and beans yet to cut, but he put up signs with state representatives Joe Schmick and Mary Dye before the primary. "I am the better candidate. I've got worlds more experience in the private sector and government sector."
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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