Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Aug. 3 primary to determine final two candidates
SPRAGUE – The seat up for election with the most candidates in Lincoln County this year is that of mayor of Sprague. Five candidates filed during filing week in May, making the race one of just two nonpartisan races in the county with two finalists yet to be determined before the Aug. 3 primary.
Sunnie Fortin, M. Shawn Coombs, Trace De Garmo, Dorothy Giddings and Timothy Wilken are all vying to take the Sprague mayor seat.
Only Fortin and Coombs responded to multiple invitations from The Times to discuss their desires to run for office and what they would bring to the position. Information available about Wilken, Giddings and De Garmo is taken from the Lincoln County voter’s guide.
M. Shawn Coombs
Coombs, a resident here for 18 years, has been on city council for almost five years.
“I was originally going to be done after my term ended,” Coombs said. “But then I thought I might be the right person for the (mayoral) job.”
He said the best thing the city has done in the last five years is begin to get ordinances organized and understand how they can be enforced in an effort to clean up some unkempt properties around the city. He said the worst thing has been selling property the city should’ve kept on hand.
Coombs said as mayor, he wants to see a playground revamped so there are activities in the city for children to do. He also wants to see more properties cleaned up around the city and be steadily working on the possibility of an industrial park in the city to bring more jobs to Sprague while keeping the small town feel many residents appear to prefer.
Sunnie Fortin
Fortin grew up in Sprague and has been back in town for a year and a half after living in Kelso and Longview. She is a bus driver and para-educator for the Sprague-Lamont School District.
She doesn’t have any prior city government experience, but wants to see the community more involved and aware of local happenings. She also wants the city to be responsible about how it handles potential growth, noting in Kelso and Longview, she didn’t feel there was much planning that went into expansion there.
“We want to grow, but we need to make sure that’s done correctly,” Fortin said. “I want better communication with the people.”
She said the city needs to work on repairing bridges and roads around the area, which would be one of her priorities as mayor.
Timothy Wilken
Wilken is a lifelong resident of Sprague and has experience as president of the city chamber of commerce and wants to see the community park improved. He also wants to see the community members more involved in council meetings and described a desire to bring more low-income housing to the city through development.
Trace De Garmo
De Garmo has been on city council for 10 years and spent time on the planning commission. He expressed a desire for open and transparent government while improving local infrastructure and preserving local businesses.
Dorothy Giddings
Giddings didn’t submit any information to the county for the voter’s guide or respond to an invitation from The Times for comment.
Voting is limited to those registered to vote as Sprague residents. The other races appearing on the primary ballot are county prosecutor, where Republican Adam Walser is running unopposed in a partisan race and Odessa town council seat No. 3, which has three candidates.
Ballots must be postmarked or dropped in a verified county drop box by 8 p.m. Aug. 3.
Drew Lawson is the editor of the Davenport Times. He is a graduate of Eastern Washington University.
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