Meet the candidates for Commissioner

DAVENPORT- Election Day is coming up Tuesday, Nov 8 and Lincoln County voters will have two choices for commissioner: Rob Coffman and Jason Debord. The following candidates submitted the following information and answered two identical questions to help voters get to know them better.

Candidates for Treasurer will receive similar coverage next week leading up to the general election.

ROB COFFMAN

Position sought: County Commissioner

Age: 57

Hometown: Wilbur

Current city of residence: Wilbur

Family: Married with two children and one grandchild.

Relevant experience: Wilbur town council, Lincoln County Commissioner

JASON DEBORD

Position sought: Commissioner

Age: 45

Hometown: Creston

Current city of residence: Creston

Family: Divorced with three children

Relevant experience: Assistant fire chief for Fire District 7, EMT in Creston, project manager for Huppin’s in Spokane

Questions

How would you accommodate employees with rising costs and rising budgets? And could that affect services to the public?

COFFMAN:

1a): County employees are tied to a specific Consumer Price Index (CPI) that is calculated every July for the coming year. Union contracts specify that Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA’s) are set at a minimum of 2% of a maximum of 4.5%. For example, if the CPI for the year is 1.5%, the employees would receive 2%. For the 2023 year, the CPI was 7.85% so employees will receive a 4.5% wage increase next year. The county currently pays 100% of the employees medical coverage and is committed to helping offset the burden to those with dependents

1b: These and other increased costs absolutely have the potential to affect services. As inflation skyrockets out of control, local governments are limited to a 1% increase in the collection of property tax (the biggest source of revenue) over the prior year. The State needs to stop passing laws that shift financial burdens to counties and actually pay for the services, such as providing

defense attorneys for the indigent, that they mandate. If re-elected, I will continue to battle Olympia on behalf of Lincoln County. Please go to http://www.RobCoffman.com for more information on this and other related topics.

DEBORD: Find ways to cut costs where needed to be able to keep our employees happy to be able to retain and recruit employees. One great place to start is our Rock Crusher needs to go as I have been told it is a big loss for the county.

What areas in the county need the most improvement? And how would you ensure that their improvement needs are met?

COFFMAN:

2a: Since taking office, we have made many improvements in the county. See my website. County roads are always in need of improvement. Lincoln County has more miles of gravel roads than any other county. It’s challenging to maintain those roads with the smallest budget per mile of road in the State. The county has top-notch people in the Public Works Department (as well as the rest of the county), who are masters at doing more with less. Small counties have been put in this unfortunate position as a direct result of unfunded mandates and laws passed by the legislature.

2b: To ensure that the continuous needs of the county road system are met, I will continue to work with State legislators so that they adequately fund the mandates they impose, which would leave more funds available for county roads and other essential services. As the Chairman of the County Road Administration Board, I will continue to stay up to date and informed on new laws and new funding sources that may come available in the future. I would appreciate your vote so that I may continue to serve the citizens of Lincoln County with Honesty, Integrity and Transparency

DEBORD: I believe we need to do what we can to finish Hawk creek road as promised. This would also help with quicker response times for emergencies as well for the communities in the seven bays area. We need to look at bringing our vehicle taxes back to our county as well. This could bring a lot of income back to our county. If anyone in our county buys a vehicle at a dealership in Washington State, we don’t see any income from that.