Ex-mayor, MLK winner, doctor, scientists and many others want Richland council seat

Two former Richland council members, several business owners, scientists, engineers and attorneys are in the running for the empty seat on the Richland City Council.

The city council is sorting through 33 applications to replace Councilman Brad Anderson who left the spot in August after being told by his doctor that he needed to slow down.

The city stopped accepting applications Sept. 4.

The Tri-City Herald received the list of names and their applications through a state public records request.

Interested candidates turned out in force and several are familiar names: former Mayor David Rose and ex-Councilwoman Dori Luzzo-Gilmour, previous council candidates Wendi Warner, Lillian “Randy” Slovic, Patrick D. McBurney and Donnie Landsman.

But there are many newcomers too who are scientists, a doctor, a former nuclear engineer and a carpenter, Tapteal Greenway founders, a bicycle advocate, the founding principal for Delta High School and a MLK Spirit Award winner.

Mayor Ryan Lukson said the council will narrow the list before inviting the finalists for interviews at a meeting tentatively set for Sept. 25. The interviews will be public.

The person appointed would need to run for election in November 2021 to keep the position.

The position comes with a $1,177 monthly salary, according to city code.

The applicants in alphabetical order are:

• Marianne Boring, a business owner, has lived in Richland for 23 years and serves on the planning commission and the board of adjustment.
• Meaghan M. Brooks, a HAPO Community Credit Union mobile branch coordinator, has lived in Richland a total of 15 years. She is president of Mid-Columbia Rotoract Club, serves on the Communities in Schools board and is a Tri-Cities Sports Council member.
  
  
• Jim Buelt, a research manager, has lived in Richland for 45 years. He has served six years on the Richland Park Commission and helped with Rachel Road and downtown connectivity studies.
• Donald S. Channel, a carpenter, has lived in Richland for three years and served as the Pacific Northwest representative for his local union and is a union steward at Hanford working on the vitirification plant.
• Conn Clark, an instrumentation and controls technician, has lived in Richland for 14 years.
• Jenna Coddington, a property manager and real estate agent, has lived in Richland for 22 years. She served on the board of several nonprofits including the Mid-Columbia Symphony and White Bluffs Elementary PTO.
• Kelsey Crawford, co-owner of Autofocus Rims, has lived in Richland for 2 years.
• Jennifer Driggers, a scientist at the LIGO observatory, has lived in Richland for 5 years.
• Kalen Finn, an equipment coordinator at Washington River Protection Solutions, has lived in Richland for 31 years. He previously ran for city council in 2019.
• Chaune’ Fitzgerald is the owner of Salon Remedi and works in Junior Achievement of Southeast Washington, foundation development. She has lived in Richland for 9 years, and is a foundation officer Women Helping Women Tri-Cities, volunteers for The Links and is founder of Women of Wisdom. She is the 2020 winner of Columbia Basin College Martin Luther King Jr. Spirit Award.
• Maria Gutierrez, a Chiawana High School teacher, has lived in Richland for 17 years. She has been the chairwoman of the Parks and Recreation Commission for eight years and is the Christian Motorcyclists Association representative for East Central Washington.
• Deidre Holmberg, a STEM Education Consultant, has lived in Richland for 17 years. She has served on the governor’s STEM Innovation Alliance, on the board of arts entity Drewboy Creative and on the Richland Economic Development Committee.
• Jhoanna R. Jones, a commercial real estate Investor, has lived in Richland for 14 years. She has served as the Tri-Cities Hispanic Chamber of Commerce politics chair, Benton County Democrats state committee woman, on Richland’s Housing and Community Development Committee and is a member of Kiwanis.
• Laila Krowiak, registered nurse at Trios Health, has lived in Richland for 29 years. She has served on the Parks and Recreation Commission and been involved with Bike Tri-Cities and the Alliance for a Liveable and Sustainable Community.
• Donnie Landsman, project manager for Pavement Surface Control, has lived in Richland for 10 years. He has served as a Benton County Republican precinct committee officer and the legislative liaison for motorcyclist lobbying organization ABATE of Washington. He ran for city council in 2015 and Benton County commissioner in 2020.
  
  
• David Larkin, a retired nuclear engineer, has lived in Richland for 54 years in Richland. He served for 15 years on Richland’s Utility Advisory Committee and volunteered at United Way, Boy Scouts of Amercia and Richland Rotary Club,
• Eboni Lovell, an on-air radio personality for Mix 105.3, has lived in Richland for six years. She serves on the boards of the Mid-Columbia Mastersingers and Girls on the Run Southeast Washington.
• Ashley Luksic, emergency preparedness specialist for at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, has lived in Richland for 10 years. She served on the Richland Players board.
• Michael Luzzo, safety professional, has lived in Richland for four years. He was on the Spokane County Solid Waste Advisory Committee.
• Dori Luzzo-Gilmour, Christ the King Parish’s early childhood religious education coordinator, has lived in Richland for 33 years. She served on Richland City Council from 2016 to 2018 and spent one term on the arts commission.
• W Kent Madsen, a retired Canon Solutions of America sales executive, has lived in Richland for 18 years. He spent 14 years on the Richland Planning Commission, including terms as chair and vice chair..
• Kurt H. Maier, an information technology engineer and manager at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, has lived in Richland for four years. He is on the Richland Library board.
• Kevin L Marsh, a doctor at Kadlec Regional Medical Center, has lived in Richland for 12 years. He has served on multiple boards at the hospital, including the planning committee for the new hospital.
• Patrick D. McBurney, Jr., an attorney, has lived in Richland for 25 years. He ran for council in 2011 and was Benton County Republican Party chair between 2007 and 2013.
• Robert J. Parr, a U.S. Army Command Sgt. Major, has lived in Richland for 40 years.
• Theresa Richardson, the retired executive director for the Tri-County Habitat for Humanity, has lived in Richland for more than 30 years.
• Yesica Rosas, a mental health counselor, has lived in Richland for seven years. She is on the Benton County Parks Board.
• David Rose, owner of Northwest Rental Center, has lived in Richland for 38 years. He served on the city council for 13 years, including as mayor, and left in 2018.
• Lillian “Randy” Slovic, retired, has lived in Richland for 11 years. She has worked as a legislative aide and as a specialist in the rural development office of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
• Wendi Warner, the Human Resources and Labor Relations director at Ben Franklin Transit, has lived in Richland for 12 years. She previously ran for a seat on the Richland council.
• Aaron White, an industrial hygienist, has lived in Richland for 20 years. He was a Parks and Recreation Commission member and is co-founder of Three River Science.
• Ginger Wireman, a Department of Ecology community outreach and environmental education specialist, has lived in Richland for 32 years. She serves on Richalnd Arts Commission and was on the founding board for Tapteal Greenway.
• Mike Wireman, journeyman electrician, has lived in Richland since 1993. He was active in founding Tapteal Greenway and contributed to the Richland schools arts programs.

This story was originally published September 13, 2020 at 2:32 PM.