Filing Week: Former Chehalis Mayor Fred Rider Joins Port Commission Race

Former Chehalis Mayor Fred Rider has filed to run for an open seat on the Port of Chehalis Commission. 

The former Lewis County Republican Party chairman submitted his filing week forms early Tuesday morning, according to the Secretary of State’s website. So far, Rider has competition in Flood Control District 1 Commissioner Paul Ericson. 

The seat serving Port District No. 2 was left vacant last month by the departure of former Commissioner Ken Kostick, who voiced plans to move outside his district’s boundaries.

Though Kostick’s six-year term doesn’t expire until the end of 2025, the port has opted to put his seat on the November ballot for candidates looking to fill the seat starting next year. The port is also soliciting applications from qualified candidates to serve out the seat for the rest of 2021. 

As of 4 p.m. Tuesday, 61 candidates have registered for 58 public office seats in Lewis County. In Thurston County, 60 candidates so far are vying for 51 open seats. 

After about 20 years of service, Bucoda Mayor Alan Carr confirmed to The Chronicle on Tuesday that he doesn’t plan on running for a sixth term. 

The mayor of the small Thurston County town said he has plans to hopefully move to Florida next year to be closer to family. 

“There comes a time when you have to say ‘enough’s enough,’” said Carr, in jest, over the phone. 

He’s been retired for about 10 years. He originally won office back in 2001 and began serving the town of about 630 people in 2002. 

Filing week will be open online through 4 p.m. on Friday, according to the Lewis County Auditor’s Office. In order to file, candidates will need to fill out a declaration of candidacy form, pay the filing fee and provide their voters’ guide statement and photo.

Candidate filing can also be done by mail and in-person. Mailed declarations must be received by the Lewis County Auditor’s Office by 4:30 p.m. Friday.

The deadline to withdraw from the 2021 primary and general elections is 4:30 p.m. Monday, May 24.

The top two candidates in each race in the primary election in August will move on to the general election.

The following is a list of Lewis County candidates that registered for office on Tuesday, as of 4:30 p.m. A full breakdown can be found online at https://bit.ly/3wemyR2.

Court of Appeals, Division 2, District 3

• Bernard Veljacic, judge position No. 1

Port of Chehalis 

• Mark Giffey, commissioner district No. 1
• Fred Rider, commissioner district No. 2

Napavine City Council

• Larry Stafford, council position No. 2

Vader City Council

• Randy Hall, council position No. 3

Centralia School Board

• Ron Averill, director position No. 1

Napavine School Board

• Justin Evander, director district No. 2 
• Brad Woodrum, director position No. 4, at-large

Rochester School Board 

• Curtis Haley, director district No. 5

Fire District 1 -- Onalaska 

• Carolyn (Carol) Brock, commissioner position No. 2

Fire District 6 -- Chehalis 

• Jim Forbes, commissioner position No. 1

Fire District 8 -- Salkum-Silver Creek 

• Rick Wood, commissioner position No. 1

Fire District 9 -- Mineral 

• Kurt Roehm, commissioner position No. 2

Fire District 17 -- Big Creek-Mineral 

• Dennis A. Day, commissioner position No. 1

Cemetery District 1 -- Winlock 

• Wayne Mummert, commissioner position No. 1

Water-Sewer District 3 -- Packwood

• Maree E. Lerchen, commissioner position No. 1