Jon Neal, who won a county commissioner seat three and a half years ago with 51.11% of the vote, will face another challenger this year.
Trinity Hightower Stucker announced she will run for Okanogan County Commissioner, District 3, which encompasses the northern area of the county. Neal won the open seat in 2022 after Jim Detro decided not to run in 2022.
Only registered voters in District 3 can vote in the primary. The two candidates receiving the most votes advance to the general election, in which all registered voters in Okanogan County can participate.
Stucker is a past president and current member of the Okanogan County Farm Bureau and a board member of the Washington Farm Bureau. She also worked as an aide to State Senator Bob Morton.
Stucker runs a goat farm and homeschools. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Government/Pre-Law with a minor in Economics from Eastern Washington University.
Winthrop resident and Stucker’s Strategy Campaign Manager Dick Ewing said he served with Stucker on a committee to develop mitigation procedures for allowing permit exempt wells in the county.
Ewing, who said he is not speaking for Stucker, said the current commissioners are not looking out for the county’s interests as much as they could.
“The county commissioners are being pushed around quite a bit by external forces without really understanding their delegated authority through the state constitution and how to hold their ground. We’re being pushed around quite a bit in terms of access to water, how we use our lands, what we must mitigate. Many of those things are already ensconced in RCWs so there is a point there they have to follow through on. There’s more that they can do in that area for the county.”
In a press release, Stucker said, “Public service is not about political theater. It requires sound judgment, follow-through, and decisions that protect the long-term interests of Okanogan County. I believe in responsible stewardship of land and water, efficient and accountable government, proactive budgeting, lower taxes, and respect for taxpayers.”
One item of contention- whether the county can continue to support the fairgrounds, caused a brouhaha between county commissioners at a meeting March 16. Neal and Commissioner Andy Hover accused Commissioner Nick Timm of spreading misinformation that they want to close the fairgrounds.
Neal and Hover clarified that they were not for closing the fairgrounds, but might be forced to do so to balance the budget, which is facing a projected $2.6 million deficit. The commissioners agreed to put a property tax increase measure before the voters Aug. 4.
The commissioners are also exploring the option of reducing maintenance at the fairgrounds to one employee but continuing to hold the Okanogan County Fair.
Stucker said she would not vote to shut down the fair.
“I am committed to finding and acting on viable solutions to address the ~$500,000 budgeted expenses for the grounds and $404,000 budgeted for the fair,” she said on her campaign’s Facebook page.
Stucker officially launches her campaign on Thursday, April 30 at 4:30 pm with a community spaghetti feed fundraiser at the Tonasket Eagles.
Join the Conversation
Leave a comment
I hope this is right cause during the 5 years I was ths horticulture barn supervisor every penny the fair brought in. The commissioners did NOT put it back into the fair grounds. They spent it on whatever they do. And the fair has went down hill o er the last 20+yrs and it not for a lack of us wanting it fixed but the commissioners not wanting to give the money back to the fair. If they have control over the budget then they should volunteer hours fixing the place. Instead of fixing a bathroom they built a whole new one. Was that really cheaper?