Residency questioned in Soap Lake race
Ringhofer challenges Bernett
SOAP LAKE - Soap Lake City Council position two candidate Gina Bernett is running against opponent Martin Ringhofer and continues to live in Soap Lake.
Ringhofer recently questioned if Bernett lives within Soap Lake city limits. He voluntarily provided the Columbia Basin Herald with a partial background check he conducted on the Internet, indicating Bernett may be linked to at least two other addresses in Aberdeen, Wash., and Kirkland, Wash.
Candidates for city council positions must live within the city limits, according to the election department of the Grant County Auditor's Office.
He said he provided the information because he was concerned Bernett may not live in Soap Lake.
"It was other people in town that told me they were really upset," Ringhofer said. "It wouldn't be responsible of me to just ignore it."
He said he decided to check into the information himself to find out where she lives because he considers it deceietful for a candidate to claim they are a full-time resident in Soap Lake when they may not be.
In a previous interview with the Columbia Basin Herald, Bernett said she is a full-time resident of Soap Lake and has been since 1990.
In a statement delivered to the Columbia Basin Herald by Soap Lake Mayor Wayne Hovde, at the request of Bernett because she was out of town, she clarified the information provided by Ringhofer.
"I was raised in Soap Lake, graduating from Soap Lake High School in 1979," stated Bernett. "I attended Big Bend Community College on a scholarship, (I) transferred to Grays Harbor College where I graduated with a degree in general studies."
Shortly after graduation she worked with a construction company in the Seattle area until she was hired by the Grant County Public Utility District in 1990, Bernett stated. Once hired, she moved to her North Fir Street residence in Soap Lake.
Bernett said the Aberdeen and Kirkland addresses are linked to when she attended college and worked for the construction company in Western Washington in the 1980s.
"My opponent is making these accusations because I am challenging him for the council position (number) two as a write-in," she stated. "The accusations that I am not a resident of Soap Lake are not true."
During Internet searches for the story, a Seattle address linked to Ringhofer was discovered. It showed Ringhofer as a Seattle resident with two phone numbers in the 206 area code. The numbers were listed for contact on heirloom tomato Web sites.
Ringhofer has a home on Dogwood Street South in Soap Lake. The Columbia Basin Herald published a story about an heirloom tomato festival taking place in his back yard in 2006 and took photos.
Despite the Soap Lake home, Ringhofer confirmed the Seattle address located on 24th Avenue in western Seattle, near Green Lake, belongs to him. It is an additional home he owns.
He said his Seattle address is not an issue with his candidacy because he is active in Soap Lake.
"I have other properties too," he said. "The issue of where I live and how often I live there, it's really not a pertinant issue at all. I have a right to my privacy."
In a previous statement to the Columbia Basin Herald, Ringhofer stated he has been a full-time resident in Soap Lake for the past 30 years.
Ringhofer said in the latest interview he spends most of his time in Soap Lake and he has been a registered voter in Soap Lake since approximately 2000.
Previous to declaring Soap Lake as his primary residence, he traveled back and forth between Soap Lake and Seattle, spending a lot of time in Soap Lake since the 1970s, Ringhofer said.
He said he was previously registered to vote in the Seattle area for close to 30 years before registering to vote in Soap Lake.
In 1999 Ringhofer was a candidate for the Seattle School District, according to a 1999 primary King County Voters Pamphlet posted on the Internet.
Ringhofer said after losing the election he decided he would become active in the Soap Lake community instead because he felt he could make a difference.