Duportail Bridge drives interest in Richland mayor’s council job

Four years ago, Robert “Bob” Thompson ran unopposed for re-election to Richland City Council. Last year, he was selected mayor by his council peers.

This year, he’s up for re-election but there’s no free pass. The mayor drew three challengers — Rhoda Williams, Jess Monterey and Kalen Finn — as he seeks another term representing Position 1.

The council’s controversial move to levy a $20 fee on vehicle licenses to help foot the bill for the $38 million Duportail Bridge helped spark interest. All four council seats up for election this year drew multiple candidates, triggering a primary runoff on Aug. 1.

Benton County mailed ballots Wednesday. The top two finishers in each race will face off in the Nov. 7 general election, with the winner taking office on Jan. 1. The 2018 salary for council members is $1,143 per month.

Thompson’s challengers include a small business owner, a Hanford employee and a bilingual paralegal who arrived in Richland last year.

Thompson is a 20-year council veteran. He graduated from Richland High School and Washington State University and earned his law degree from Willamette University.

He takes a pragmatic view of city functions and claims his stewardship has resulted in significant cost savings on taxes and utilities.

In addition to providing customary municipal services such as law enforcement, a fire department, parks and recreation, roads, water and sewer service and so forth, Richland is the electric utility for its residents and operates an independent library.

He was author and shepherd of assembling the final funds needed for the Duportail Bridge. He said the city spent more than 10 years evaluating the bridge and exhausted all options before turning to local taxpayers for the final $4 million. The fee also generates money for road maintenance as well as the new Yakima River crossing. He has served as a leader of the Energy Communities Alliance, a coalition that advocates for cities and counties affected by Department of Energy facilities.

Thompson said he’s proud of what the city has accomplished during remarks at a recent voter forum organized by the League of Women voters.

He said criticism by challengers that the council isn’t listening to Richland residents stings.

“We listen,” he said. “Not too many of them ever made a City Council meeting.”

He does not intend to raise or spend more than $5,000, according to his registration statement with the Public Disclosure Commission.

Williams is a six-year Richland resident who opened Ms. Rhoda’s Wine Garden at the Parkway three years ago. Prior to that, she worked as a tax preparer.

She wants to provide a business voice to the council. Her additional issues are sustainability, livability and tight growth.

Williams was inspired to enter city politics not by controversy, but by the warm welcome she received from the community and the city when she started her business, she said.

Her goal is to foster a welcoming environment where residents feel they can have meaningful conversations with their elected leaders.

The car tab fee is a big issue for residents, but she’s hopeful people will accept the decision and respect the need to build the bridge and boost funds for street maintenance.

“I’ve embraced it and I would love to see the residents embrace it,” she said.

Williams didn’t set out to challenge the sitting mayor for his council post, she said. She chose Position 1 because she didn’t want to face off against friends running for Position 4 (Ginger Wireman) and Position 7 (Dori Luzzo Gilmour).

She does not intend to spend more than $5,000 on her campaign, according to her registration statement to the PDC.

Finn graduated from Richland High and Central Washington University and works for Washington River Protection Solutions as equipment coordinator for the DOE contractor.

He wants the council to rethink the $20 car tab fee. He doesn’t dispute the need for the bridge, but said the council’s “unilateral” decision left a bad taste in the public’s mouth.

He wants to go back to “square one” and look for other funding sources, he said. He feels the council should have placed a request for the transportation benefit district on the ballot.

Finn didn’t appreciate Thompson’s comments about his opponents in the online voters pamphlet. The mayor suggested his opponents’ views are more “consistent with elitist liberal Seattle” than Richland. Finn took it personally.

“There’s really nothing more ‘Seattle liberal’ than paying for a bridge you can’t afford by taxing everybody,” he retorted.

He does not intend to raise or spend more than $5,000 in the campaign, according to his candidate registration statement with the PDC.

Monterey is a bilingual paralegal with no prior experience in elected office.

A native of the Washington, D.C. metro area, Monterey moved to Richland in 2016 for quality of life for her young children. She graduated from Northern Virginia Community College and attended Georgia State University.

Monterey ran because she felt communication between the council and community broke down during the Duportail Bridge debate, she said.

She has raised $2,322, according to her campaign registration statement to the PDC. Her financial supporters include a Virginia attorney and Steve Lee, Kennewick City Council candidate and owner of Finley’s Green2Go marijuana shop.

This story was originally published July 13, 2017 at 5:09 PM with the headline "Duportail Bridge drives interest in Richland mayor’s council job."