Editor's Note: A story focusing on a debate at the same event between Lewis County sheriff candidates Rob Snaza and Tracy Murphy will be published in the Tuesday edition of The Chronicle.
The upstairs event space at O'Blarney's on Thursday held the largest audience the Centralia-Chehalis Chamber of Commerce has seen in its monthly forum for years.
In a room packed with professionals eating steak, two hats stood out above the crowd: one, a baseball cap reading “I love Lewis County,” was the campaign swag of candidate Harry Bhagwandin; the other, a tall, tan cowboy hat, the signature look of candidate Scott Brummer, who has steadfastly sported the look since he began campaigning early in the year.
But the hats came off when the two candidates took their seats at the front of the room.
Both are Republicans, emerging from a five-candidate primary in August to represent District 3 on the Lewis County Board of Commissioners. The district spans the entire eastern border of the county, reaching westward to Onalaska and the outskirts of Napavine. It also covers most of the developed southern portion of Lewis County including Toledo, Vader and the southern outskirts of Winlock. Brummer’s precinct was transferred into the area after redistricting late last year.
While the district is proportional to its neighbors in population, it is more than twice the acreage of either.
Chamber Executive Director Cynthia Mudge introduced the candidates and informed them of the rules of the debate. They would receive two minutes each for an opening statement, two minutes each for answering prompts, two opportunities for a one-minute rebuttal and one final minute for a closing statement.
Chris Thomas, spokesperson for Providence Centralia Hospital, and Todd Chaput, initiatives program manager for the Lewis County Economic Alliance, asked the questions.
In his opening statement, Bhagwandin, 63, of Onalaska, said his mission is to retain Lewis County’s natural beauty in the face of growth and development.
“I’m running for county commissioner because our rural voice needs to be heard,” he said.
He spoke about moving to Lewis County in 1985 and spending six years as a resident of Morton before he and his wife of 40 years, Annie, moved onto their tree farm in Onalaska. There, they raised four children and currently grow timber, organic food, fruit and nuts.
“If you want your voice to be heard in decisions that may threaten your values, your property rights and your ability to prosper, then vote for me for county commissioner,” he said.
As priority issues, Bhagwandin listed creating meaningful job opportunities that encourage younger generations to make their careers in the community, addressing the challenges of significant development along Interstate 5 and of the booming tourism industry, and putting resources toward addressing crime, homelessness and drug addiction. He also said if elected, he would advocate for recovering the Cowlitz River fish populations, “balanced” flood protection, strengthening local timber jobs and protecting small businesses and family farms.
Brummer, 51, of Winlock, said his mission is to advocate for the very best quality of life for his neighbors and future generations. A 28-year resident of Lewis County, he said he and his wife raised three children and now have grandchildren.
His career has been as a biologist, where he said he focused on protecting natural resources and property rights.
Brummer spoke about his family’s farm and small business, Patriot Farm and Feed, where he sources local ingredients to manufacture livestock feed. He and his wife, he said, are lead pastors at a church in Ethel and have been involved in ministry for over 25 years.
As focus issues, Brummer talked about safety and security that he’d improve by advocating for resources to law enforcement and first responders. He said he would seek well-planned growth and by supporting agriculture, timber and small businesses.
He said he would use relationships in state government to push for “tangible” flood control measures to reduce the impact of floods on the community.
“I will be a bold leader and a strong voice who stands up for freedom and core values and represents the people of Lewis County,” he said.
The four questions asked and answers by the candidates are as follows in chronological order:
“What are the three top issues that you feel are facing the county and want to see addressed?” Thomas asked.
Brummer first spoke about crime, adding he would support the Lewis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
“Folks need to know that if you come to Lewis County and you perpetrate those kinds of activities, you will be prosecuted,” he said.
Next, he listed flooding. In over 20 years for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, Brummer said there has been “a lot of inaction. I think it’s time that we actually put some bricks and mortar on the ground to lessen those impacts.”
Lastly, he mentioned homelessness in the Twin Cities.
Bhagwandin based his answer on unprecedented growth.
“Based on what I’m hearing from people around the county,” he said.
The growth, he added, creates lack of adequate housing and infrastructure such as broadband while threatening to compromise the rural character of Lewis County.
Residents have come to identify with the natural beauty of the area, Bhagwandin continued, and responsible growth would preserve the current community while simultaneously readying it for change.
“The challenge is to provide the resources to allow our children the choices to raise their families here,” he said.
“County regulations for building and permitting are often described as slow and cumbersome. As a commissioner, how would you address this issue?” Chaput asked.
Bhagwandin said he would advocate for resources in the county’s department of community development.
“This unprecedented growth we’re seeing, in many instances, it’s hitting us blindsided,” he said.
Supporting staff in the department, he said, would allow for long-range planning to get ahead of development. If possible, he said he would streamline county ordinances and update county code to allow more options for building housing with the densities required to meet population growth.
“And the kind of communities that we want to build in Lewis County that still keep Lewis County livable,” he said.
Brummer started by saying he has built three homes in Lewis County from the ground up and understands the difficulties of permitting and associated fees, adding there should be increased “flexibility,” but not specifying how.
Staff in community development are working hard, Brummer said, and they want the best for Lewis County, praising the inspectors to the department director and staff at the counter. He blamed state regulations such as energy codes as the biggest crux in building.
He added he’d do “everything we can do to provide local flexibility in dealing with those mandates.”
“The final environmental impact statement for the Chehalis River Basin Flood Damage Reduction Project is expected to be completed in early 2023. As a commissioner (candidate), what is your stance on the project and why?” Thomas asked.
The project is being applied for by the Chehalis River Basin Flood Control Zone District, a special purpose district made up of the Lewis County Commissioners and informed by volunteer advisory community members. Most committee members and previous county commissioners have spent over a decade advocating for a water retention structure in the Chehalis River Basin to reduce the impact of flooding downstream. The proposed site would be about a mile upstream of Pe Ell as the river pours out of the Willapa Hills, as previously reported in The Chronicle.
Brummer was asked to answer first. Noting again his previous employment with Fish and Wildlife, he said he is fully aware of the flow control structure and what it does.
“I’ve been up on that site and been working with Weyerhaeuser prior to being terminated,” from the department, he said, which came from his unwillingness to be vaccinated against COVID-19 after a state worker vaccine mandate was put in place.
“One of my main functions was to work cooperatively with the folks as we developed that plan. I am in support of it. I actually believe that we could do better. I would like to have seen us go further in developing a facility that could provide some hydroelectricity up there instead of the flow control,” Brummer continued.
He noted there are potential issues with the project he hopes will be addressed by the impact statement, but again reiterated his support and again called for bricks and mortar flood control work, saying there have been plans for a structure like this since 1990.
“Inaction doesn’t get us anywhere. It’s time to actually put something on the ground,” he said.
Bhagwandin answered next, recalling the flood of 2007 and saying he was “deeply involved in the Boistfort Valley during that flood event, helping dig some of my farmers out of that mess.”
He noted his work as the vice chair of the Chehalis Lead Entity’s habitat work group, which works on salmon restoration. As such, he said he’s familiar with the problems with flood control and concurrent restorative processes for salmon.
“When it first came out, I was very leery of a flood retention structure, aka dam, because of my concerns with the potential for an endangered species listing of Chinook (salmon). If we get a Chinook listing on the Chehalis, forever we’re going to have layers of bureaucracy that will certainly impact any growth and development along the Chehalis River Basin,” Bhagwandin said.
However, he continued, after coming to understand the effects of climate change on the region and the increased frequency of heavy rainfall events in the winter and heat domes and dry spells in the summer, he believes there does need to be some kind of water retention structure, though one with a reservoir.
“As my position evolves, I think it's essential to support a retention structure. But, what I would like to see is adequate fish passage and use of the reservoir for our needed water uses,” he said.
At this time, Brummer raised his card asking for a rebuttal — the only time one was used between the two candidates.
In regards to fish passage and the listing of Chinook, he said, salmon may end up getting listed as endangered regardless of the structure.
“The little secret that nobody wants to talk about when it comes to the flow control structure is the placement of that dam is going to impact very, very little miles (of) upstream habitat that are currently utilized by fish. That’s a fact,” Brummer said.
He claimed the site was chosen for having little-to-no impact and that supplemental mitigation from the project could potentially leave the habitat better off, especially in the summer.
“What do you feel are the highest priorities for county infrastructure projects?” Chaput asked.
Bhagwandin was asked to go first, saying “of course, broadband” is among the priority projects in his opinion.
No resident age 25 or under, he said, would live in the area without high speed internet capacity and as a community it should be a mission to improve that capacity in rural areas. Next, he listed water and sewer infrastructure.
Bhagwandin continued, referring to Brummer’s previous statement about flexibility with permits, saying that more housing options are needed throughout the county to support various income brackets.
Brummer said the county is putting resources toward the 911 call center, which he said is a safety and security issue, adding there’s a “need to put that money on the ground and get that work accomplished.” He spoke of a sheriff’s office substation in East Lewis County as an important next step for the county. Lastly, he referred to the county plan to increase animal and homelessness shelter capabilities and said he supports consolidating county resources nearer to the courthouse in Chehalis.
In his one-minute closing statement, Brummer said, “I love this county and I’m sincere about wanting to serve it and do what's right for the people. I am in this because I care. I care about everything that happens and goes on. And I care not only for the individual, but for the future. So that’s my focus — (it) is to listen, be engaged, work hard to solve problems and do the very best that I can to serve the people of this county that I love. And so that's just simply from my heart, where I am and what I want to do as your next county commissioner.”
Asked to close it out, Bhagwandin relayed the message from his opening statement.
“If you want your voice to be heard in decisions that may threaten your values, threaten your property rights, threaten your ability to prosper, then you gotta vote for me for county commissioner,” he said. “We must create living wage, meaningful jobs that maintain the rural character of our county and allow our children to stay and raise families here. It’s my passion that our local farmers and family owned businesses prosper.”
He continued that he will address the issues of development on I-5, anticipated growth on U.S. Highway 12 and the tourism economy while spending “every penny of your tax dollars to its best use.”
A recording of the debate can be seen on The Chronicle’s Facebook page.
