Ballots mailed Oct. 16 for General Election

Ballots are mailed this week for the Nov. 3 general election. There are a number of items and positions appearing on the ballot for voters to decide on.

There are a number of candidates for residents to vote on. The first is for a State Office position.

Legislative District 9 State Representative position one, which is a one-year unexpired term. On the ballot will be Mary Dye who prefers the Republican Party and Richard Lathim who also prefers the Republican Party.

On the ballot will also be a number of local nonpartisan offices.

East Adams Rural Hospital in Hospital District 2 is electing a Commissioner for District 1, with a short and six-year term. Running unopposed is Ross Heimbigner. Also on the ballot for EARH is a Commissioner for District 4, which is a six-year term. Running for this position also unopposed is Eric Walker.

The Washtucna School District 109 is electing Director, Position 1 and Director, Position 3. These are both four-year terms.

For Position 1 Melinda Owens is running. For Position 3 Wayne Johnstone and Theresa St. Hilaire will be running.

Benge School District 122 is electing Director, Position 4, which is a four-year term. Running unopposed is James Whitman.

In Lind School District 158 there are three four-year term Director positions. Annie Trunkle Smart is running for Position 1, Jani Melcher is running for Position 2 and Beverly Kulm is running for Position 4.

Ritzville School District 160-67 will have two four-year term Director positions on the ballot. Reid Phillips is the sole candidate for District 2 and Greg Galbreath is running unopposed for District 4.

The Town of Lind has two councilperson positions on the ballot. Both are four-year terms. Paula Bell and John Claypool are running for Position 4, and Nick Meyers and Craig Cooper are running for Position 5.

The Town of Washtucna will have five votes on this ballot. Brian Hille is the sole candidate for the four-year term of Mayor. Four councilperson positions will be on the ballot as well. All are running unopposed. David Miller is running for Position 1, this is a short and four-year term. Shauna Miller is running for Position 2, which is a four-year term. Carol Sullivan is running for Position 3 and Jennifer Webb is running for Position 5, both of these are two-year unexpired terms.

The City of Ritzville also has five items on the ballot. Gary Cook is running unopposed for the four-year term of Mayor. Dede Rawlings is running for Ward 1 and Dennis Chamberlain is running for Ward 4, both of these are four-year term positions. Corey Umland is running for Ward 2, which is a short and four-year term and Mark Weigand is running for Council at Large which is a two-year term.

Fire Protection District 1 is looking to elect the Commissioner Position 1. Jacob C. Harder II is running against Matt Kubik for the six-year term position.

In Fire Protection District 2, Douglas Wahl is running unopposed for Position 1 for the six-year term.

Fire Protection District 6 has two positions on the ballot. Running for the six-year term Commissioner Position 1 is Jerry Whitman. Bruce Honn is running for Commissioner Position 3, which has a four-year unexpired term.

Fire Protection District 7 has two Commissioner positions on the ballot. Jason Snyder is running against Byron Allen for Position 2, which is a six-year term. Position 3 is a four-year unexpired term and Debra Sitton is running as the sole candidate for this position.

Park and Recreation District 2 in Washtucna has four Commissioner positions listed on the ballot. Carol Thompson is running for Position 1 and Codi Titus is running for Position 2, both of these are four-year term positions. Elizabeth Sitton is running for Position 3 and Theresa Hulett is running for Position 5, these two positions have a two-year unexpired term.

Park and Recreation District 3 in Lind also has four Commissioner positions. The first two are four-year terms and the second two are two-year unexpired terms. Running unopposed for Position 2 is Laurinda Ritz and for Position 3 Breanne Williamson. Samantha Crow is running for Position 4 and Kelsey Kramer is running for Position 5.

Park and Recreation District 4 for Ritzville has four Commissioner positions on the November ballot. Position 1 is a two-year unexpired term and Kandis Duff is running as the sole candidate. Positions 3, 4 and 5 are four-year terms and running for these are Andrea Heider, Marie Borth and Krista Krause respectively.

The Cemetery District 1 for Washtucna is electing a six-year term Commissioner Position 2. Michael Ebert is running unopposed.

The Cemetery District 3 in Lind will be electing Commissioner Position 3, which is a six-year term. Jeffery Field is running unopposed.

This ballot will also include two initiatives to the people.

The first is Initiative Measure No. 1366 which concerns state taxes and fees. This measure would decrease the sales tax rate.

The second initiative is Initiative Measure No. 1401 which concerns the trafficking of animal species threatened with extinction. This measure would make selling, purchasing, trading or distributing certain animal species threatened with extinction, and products containing such species, a gross misdemeanor class-C felony, with exemptions for certain types of transfers.

The ballot will also include four advisory notes.

The first is Advisory Vote No. 10, Engrossed Substitute House Bill 1449. This legislature imposed, without a vote of the people, oil spill response and administration to apply to crude oil or petroleum products transported by railroad, costing $17,000,000 for government spending.

The next vote will be Advisory Vote No. 11, Second Substitute Senate Bill 5052. This legislature imposed, without a vote of the people, the marijuana excise tax on medical marijuana sales, costing an amount that cannot currently be estimated, for government spending.

The third advisory vote is No. 12, Second Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5987. The legislature imposed, without a vote of the people, additional taxes on motor vehicle and special fuels costing an estimated $3,707,000,000 in the first ten years, for government spending.

The last is Advisory Vote No. 13, Engrossed Substitute Bill 6138. The legislature increased business and occupation tax revenues and excluded certain software manufacturers from a retail sales tax exemption, without a vote of the people, costing $1,449,000,000 for government spending.

Proposition No. 1 submitted by Adams County Cemetery District No. 3 in Lind includes a maintenance and operation levy for $30,000.

This is an estimated $0.12 per one thousand dollars of assessed valuation for maintenance and operation for the year 2016.

New voters can still register in person through Monday, Oct. 26, at the Adams County Auditor’s Office.

The Office is located at 210 W. Broadway Avenue in Ritzville.