Keanu Niezwaag

Age: 28

Hometown: Ritzville

Employment/Business/Other Experience: Lifelong Service Professional ready to bring SERVICE back to Public Service

Community service: Youth Sports Coach

Education: Ritzville High School

Family: 4th Generation Ritzville Resident and proud uncle to the 5th Generation

The following questions were answered by candidates in 100 words or less. We do not edit the answers, other than to enforce the word limit.

Question 1: What steps would you take to encourage new development in Ritzville? I am passionate about making Ritzville a better place to live, work, and raise a family. I will attract new businesses to Ritzville by working with local and state partners. We will create jobs by supporting existing businesses, helping them grow by reducing costs and providing them with the resources they need to succeed. I will work to keep our community safe by supporting our police department and investing in crime prevention programs. I will support projects to improve our parks, streets, and public spaces. I will provide strong and stable leadership and be accountable to the people of Ritzville.

Question 2: What steps would you take to ensure that the city hires reliable contractors for public service projects such as wells, roundabouts, etc? RCW 39.04.010 requires local agencies to award public works contracts to a responsible bidder with the lowest responsive bid. We should follow the example of other local agencies that have developed additional criteria including no delinquent state taxes, no federal debarment, no wage violations, no excessive claims against retainage/bonds, no public bidding violations, no termination for cause or default, or unwarranted lawsuits. Implement secondary level criteria related to the nature of a specific project. For example, an agency may require that a contractor must have completed three projects of a similar scope and dollar volume within the past five years.