County coroner selection continues

GRANT COUNTY — The candidate pool for the next Grant County coroner was reduced by half Saturday.

Dave Matney, of Ephrata, Mike Christian, of Moses Lake and Aaron Doyle, of Quincy will move on to the next round in the appointment process. Three other candidates were eliminated.

“It was a great process,” said Grant County Republic Party chairman Tom Dent.

Republican party precinct officers made the selection, he said. They reviewed resumes and letters of intent prepared by the candidates.

Each candidate was given five minutes to provide a speech about themselves and why they should be appointed to the position. Afterward each candidate was asked five questions, he said. The questions varied between candidates and included topics such as time constraints, legal issues and criminal history.

The Grant County Board of Commissioners will make the final selection. They were doing individual interviews with the candidates this week, Dent said.

He explained they must choose a candidate soon so current Coroner Jerry Jasman has time to show them how the office functions. His resignation date is Dec. 1.

— Staff report