He edged her in the primary. Benton commission race pits 2 Republicans

In his first serious re-election challenge, Benton County Commissioner Shon Small is facing a strong campaign from a fellow Republican for his District 2 seat.

Small, the incumbent, is running for a third term against Lori Sanders, a 14-year member of the Benton Public Utility District Board and appointee to the Energy Northwest executive committee.

Small carried a narrow lead over Sanders in the Aug. 7 primary, when they were the only two on the ballot. Small won 50.6 percent of the vote to Sanders’ 49.4 percent.

Small has raised $57,000, which includes his own contributions. His largest supporters include Benton County Sheriff Jerry Hatcher, the Washington Association of Realtors PAC and George Garlick.

Sanders has raised $15,000, including her own money. Her largest supporters are Teamsters Local 839, Energy Incentives Inc. and former Benton County Commissioner Claude Oliver.

The race is as civil as it is serious.

Small is a former Benton County sheriff’s deputy who is running as a voice for public safety, which consumes the majority of the county’s budget.

While he sometimes finds himself on the losing end of 2-1 votes on topics such as marijuana regulations and spending the surplus public safety sales tax, he said he usually brings his co-commissioners around through education and collaboration.

Small said he’s proud of his record, which includes championing money for the Tri-City Metro Drug Task Force, investigations of internet crimes against children, the battle against gangs, improving mental health services in the county jail and for a dedicated mental health court.

Sanders, who owns an energy consulting business, said she was moved to seek office by county missteps that led to a wrongful termination lawsuit, an outcry over the county’s multimillion dollar public safety sales tax and a new rental fee schedule for the Benton County Fairgrounds that caught longtime users off guard.

“It seemed that the county had lost sight of why they’re there,” she said.

The job

In Benton County, three elected commissioners representing specific districts oversee the biennial budget of about $300 million.

It serves as the county’s highest legislative authority. Commissioners serve on comparable footing to the county’s other elected officials, but control their budgets.

One commission position and all the other elected positions are up for election this year. Commissioners are paid about $108,000, plus benefits, including a county-provided vehicle.

District 2 covers Prosser, Benton City and Kennewick, generally west of Highway 395. Commissioners Jerome Delvin and Jim Beaver represent Richland and eastern Kennewick/Finley, respectively.

Small worked in law enforcement until he defeated Max E. Benitz Jr. in 2010. He easily won re-election in 2014, when he was challenged by Republican Timothy Dalton.

Sanders is a lifelong Tri-Citian and serial entrepreneur who began her first business three decades ago, a cloth diaper service that included 18-hour days and tiny paychecks.

Small lives in Prosser, Sanders in Kennewick.

Public safety sales tax

Benton County voters approved a three-tenths of a percent sales tax in 2014 to beef up local law enforcement and public safety.

The cities get 40 percent of the proceeds and the county 60 percent. The cities — Kennewick, Prosser, Richland and West Richland — invested in extra cops and programs.

The county invested in more deputies and extra court programs.

But it came under fire this year when its reserve fund approached $16 million at the end of 2017, far in excess of the $340,00 that was anticipated on the ballot.

When the commission refused to cover a $100,000 shortfall in the regional drug task force budget, Kennewick officials cried foul.

Tensions escalated when Sheriff Hatcher asked for approval to use sales tax proceeds earmarked for jail deputies to instead beef up the detective ranks to pursue child predators and combat gangs. The commission said no, over Small’s yes vote.

The original backers stepped up and urged the county to fulfill their promise to voters and invest public safety money into public safety.

The commission relented, agreeing to put funds into programs that support at-risk youth and families, and combat gangs and human trafficking and for an emergency communications tower.

Small has advocated for investing the money in public safety from the start and said it’s ironic that he has to face voters over the matter.

He defended the higher-than-expected reserve. At the same time, the county was ramping up new programs. The sheriff’s department was competing with local police departments to hire officers, creating delays.

Sanders said the safety tax debate brought frustrations about Benton County governance to a head. Her campaign is focused on good governance, which she said was missing in the public safety sales tax battle.

“You don’t collect the money and then decide how to spend it,” she said. “If you have too much, then right size it.”

Sanders said she’s worried voters won’t renew the 10-year tax in 2024 unless Benton County starts doing a better job of using the resources it asked for.

“You don’t want to be hoarding it, but you don’t want to be just throwing it at your favorite projects,” she said.

The reserve stood at $9.6 million at the end of September.

Lawsuit

Linda Robb, who was fired as administrator for Benton-Franklin Human Services, sued the two counties in 2016, alleging wrongful termination, harassment and gender-based discrimination.

The case is set to go to trial in January.

Both the Benton and Franklin county commissions are named as defendants. Robb’s complaint accuses Small of harassment and says she was advised by county administrators that he does not respect women.

Neither Benton nor Franklin County has commented on the case.

Small said he was surprised by the personal accusations and is eager for the case to go to court.

He said he’s being blamed for a decision made by five of the six commissioners. Only Franklin County Commissioner Brad Peck voted against firing Robb.

“It has nothing to do with Shon Small,” he said.

Sanders said the situation was mishandled. Before someone is terminated, there should be an employee improvement plan, she said.

“What I’m hearing is firings over personalities and pettiness,” she claimed. “This is going to cost the county a lot of money. And it should.”

Benton County Fairgrounds

The commission hiked rental rates for the Benton County Fairgrounds in January as part of its consent agenda. The move was not announced in advance and was not discussed at the meeting.

Fairgrounds users soon found themselves facing budget-breaking increases to lease buildings for everything from rock shows to chicken exhibitions. The fairground manager left with no explanation. The commission learned he’d left a pile of incomplete rental contracts.

Small acknowledged he didn’t realize new rates did not continue the tradition of discounting rates for youth organizations, such as FFA and 4H. He led the review that reinstated the discounts.

“We didn’t know that some of these were hit so bad,” he said, calling the incident “asinine” and “embarrassing.”

Sanders called the fairgrounds rates another example of bad governance.

“You can’t go from $4,000 to $15,000 and expect the same people to come back,” she said.

She said the county needs to be more mindful of the impact of its decisions. The fairgrounds are as important to Finley as the courthouse is to Prosser.

If commissioners read the consent agenda before they approved the fairgrounds rates, they wouldn’t have been surprised, she said. “The consent agenda is used by administration and commissioners to avoid discussions,” she added.

Ballots were mailed in mid-October and must be returned or postmarked by Nov. 6.

Deadline to register online has passed, but voters can register in person through Monday, Oct. 29.

The Benton County Auditor maintains offices at the Prosser courthouse, 620 Market St., the Kennewick Annex, 5600 W. Canal Drive and the Richland annex, 101 Wellsian Way.