Fiscal responsibility, growth discussed by Adams County commission candidates

OTHELLO — Candidates for Adams County Commissioner answered questions about fiscal responsibility and cooperation in a forum Tuesday in Othello. 

Incumbent Commissioner Mike Garza is being challenged for the position by Eleanor Brodahl, Othello.

Garza and Brodahl were asked about county finances, and what county officials should do if expenditures exceeded revenues. Garza said commissioners have had to deal with that situation. 

“We have seen a trend where expenditures are outpacing revenues, and we have had to make some difficult decisions,” Garza said. “Not to elaborate on each and every circumstance, but last year, we came to a position where every office (was) instructed to cut a percentage of their operating costs, including the commissioners. We can't have rules for thee and not for us. So we took part of that as well.”  

Brodahl said state law provides guidelines. 

“When you're looking at the county revenues, there is an RCW. You live within it. The commissioners have the power of the purse,” she said. “We’ve got to build our budget because it’s really tight right now.”  

The candidates were asked how they would prioritize in the case of a revenue shortfall. Brodahl reiterated that the crucial thing was economizing. 

“We don’t know what’s going to come up, but we have to live within our means,” she said. “We can’t just keep taxing and taxing our citizenry. In these financial times it’s tough for families.” 

Garza said the commissioners are equal to, but not superior to, the people elected to other offices, and that elected department heads are part of the decision-making process. Cooperation is crucial as a result, he said. 

“At the end of the day, it's the folks in charge of their departments. They need to prioritize areas where they can try to make it work with the funds that are allotted to them,” Garza said. “Very tough decisions, very hard decisions to make. Perception is that there's simple decisions to be made by these folks, but they're not. Revenues need to exceed our expenditures – it's math. Hopefully, at the county we find some ways to make that happen.” 

Candidates were asked about cooperation between Adams County and its cities, especially on big issues like utility infrastructure, zoning and annexation and road maintenance. Brodahl said it starts with communication. 

“How you improve it is, we start talking to each other. We have a split between Othello and Ritzville, and that shouldn’t happen,” she said.  

Garza said some people have the wrong impression about city-county relations. 

“The perception out there is that we hate each other, and that’s not true. Do we disagree on some things? Yes,” he said. 

That doesn’t change the need for communication, he said. 

“I think communication is key, and getting everybody around the table. At the end of the day, throwing an innuendo here to hope that the mayor or the city administrator hears it - that gets us nowhere,” he said. “At the end of the day, we need to be at the same table. We need to put out what the subject matter is, and if there's anything that the county can do in collaboration with the entity, the city, or the municipality, we need to work towards that. I mean, we're all in this for the same reasons. We need to be willing to share our strategies or our ideas so that we all become better. I think through collaboration we can obtain the results we’re looking for.” 

He reiterated the need for collaboration and cooperation when discussing economic development, and how to support development without additional tax burdens on current county residents. 

“I don’t think the revenue or the expansion is really going to come from within. We can build houses here, but it just means that some folks are leaving their (existing) houses, and I don't know that I want to call that growth,” Garza said. “It's got to be somebody that came in and, ‘We created 180 jobs here, or we created 200 jobs here. This industry came in, this manufacturer is going to make their parts here,’ or something to that effect. I think what we need to do, again, is collaborate as much as we can, and make Adams County attractive to those folks.” 

Brodahl said persistence is important. 

“I was a business development officer for a bank. I would not leave my desk without calling six people before I left, because it was all about sales. It’s about bothering people. You keep calling; you keep calling,” she said. “We go from the ground up. Make them welcome so they want to come here to Othello because we have a good place and people like our dual language school.” 

Asked about making tough decisions, Brodahl cited an incident when she used her business background.  

“Somebody didn’t like what I said, but I had that securities license,” she said.  

That led the questioner to use a racial slur, she said.  

Garza said any public office involves making difficult and sometime unpopular decisions. 

“Every single person up here is going to sacrifice their personal agenda, or should. You don't run for office for yourself. We are all up here because we have a spirit of service,” he said. “We want to give back. We want to contribute. Every decision, and when I say every, I can attest to it. Five years ago, when I started going to the meetings, when I ran the first time, I laughed at this. I thought this was so easy. The intricacy of being a commissioner, the diversity of what’s required of you, is immense.”  

He added that personal considerations shouldn’t come into the decision-making process. 

“I, for one, have always thought that it's got to be about the people that I serve that get the benefit of every decision I make,” he said. “I, for one, have always thought that it's got to be about the people that I serve that get the benefit of every decision I make.” 

    Bringing growth to Adams County was among the questions up for discussion for Adams County Commissioner candidates Eleanor Brodahl and Mike Garza at a forum Tuesday.