Owner of Finley pot store plans to run for Kennewick council
A candidate for one of four seats that will be up for election on the Kennewick City Council has announced his intent to run, more than a month before the filing period opens.
Steve Lee, co-owner with his wife of Green2Go, plans to file for the Ward 2 seat now held by Greg Jones, he announced Thursday.
Jones, contacted by the Herald, said he plans to run for election again. He is the Department of Energy’s chief financial officer for the Hanford nuclear reservation. He was appointed to fill a vacancy on the city council in March 2013 and then elected.
The filing period for the city council election on Nov. 7 runs from May 15-19.
Lee and his wife, Jessy Lee, began offering medical cannabis services to seniors, veterans and the terminally ill in 2012. Four years later, they founded the Tri-Cities’ first legal medical and recreational cannabis retail store in Finley, which now has 30 full-time employees and has given $65,000 to local charities, he said.
Kennewick bans recreational marijuana businesses.
We should be doing more to promote projects, events and businesses that engage, inspire and meet the needs of talented people from all walks of life.
Steve Lee
Kennewick City Council candidate“My success in small business didn’t happen by accident,” Lee said. It took hard work and assistance from people who supported his vision.
If elected to the council, he would be an ally for other small-business entrepreneurs, working to help them thrive in an increasingly competitive and economically challenging environment, he said.
He is a graduate of Leadership Tri-Cities and was given the Outstanding Business of the Year award by the West Richland Chamber of Commerce for 2016.
He is interested in attracting young professionals to the Tri-Cities and retaining them.
“We should be doing more to promote projects, events and businesses that engage, inspire and meet the needs of talented people from all walks of life,” he said.
He and his wife have worked with organizations that include local chambers of commerce, the Richland Public Facilities District, Safe Harbor Crisis Center, Confluent Space, Drew Boy Creative and the Rude Mechanicals Shakespeare troop, he said.
Becoming an elected official seemed the natural next step, he said.
Other seats that will be up for election in Kennewick in November include those now held by Don Britain for Ward 1, John Trumbo for Ward 3 and Bob Parks, at-large member.
Annette Cary: 509-582-1533, @HanfordNews
This story was originally published April 6, 2017 at 7:21 PM with the headline "Owner of Finley pot store plans to run for Kennewick council."