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By Drew Lawson
The Record-Times 

Three commissioner finalists chosen

Interviews to be conducted next week

 

Last updated 1/20/2023 at 2:08pm

DAVENPORT-After a lengthy search by the Lincoln County Republican Central Committee to find three candidates deemed by the Committee to be worthy Republicans, three names were submitted to the county commissioners to be chosen as Mark Stedman's replacement for the District No. 1 commissioner seat.

Jo Gilchrist of Davenport, Kelly Watkins of Odessa and Brett Bishop of Edwall were submitted by the Committee for the commissioners to choose from.

Gilchrist and Watkins were selected after the Committee's first round of interviews that featured four applicants, two of whom were deemed not Republican following those interviews. Bishop threw his name into the hat and was approved after the Committee's second round of advertising for the seat vacancy.


State law deems that the Committee must submit three names to the commissioners for a vacant county elected position.

Gilchrist lives south of Davenport off Highway 28 and retired as the county 911 coordinator at the end of 2022.

Watkins lives in Odessa and retired as undersheriff last summer, working under also now-retired Wade Magers.

Bishop is a career private forensic consultant who lives on Highway 231 between Edwall and Tyler.

Commissioners Scott Hutsell and Rob Coffman went into an executive session during their regular meeting Tuesday, Jan. 17 to determine whether to make a selection or interview the candidates themselves before an appointment.


After convening for about an hour, Hutsell and Coffman decided to interview each candidate themselves in a public meeting that was tentatively scheduled for Monday, Jan. 23 at 9 a.m.

The chosen candidate will be the first addition to the board since 2012, when Stedman joined Coffman and Hutsell as the District 1 commissioner. District 1 covers most of southern Lincoln County, including Sprague, Odessa and Harrington.

Author Bio

Drew Lawson, Editor

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Drew Lawson is the editor of the Davenport Times. He is a graduate of Eastern Washington University.

 

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