A list of reasons for new commissioner

A recent article in the Omak Chronicle called attention to legal costs our incumbent county commissioners have passed on to taxpayers, including recent issues regarding salary for an employee in the county court which has now cost more to litigate than it would have to pay the original amount in question.

As she has advertised, Shiela Kennedy has been a very active county commissioner. Those actions, however, have been counter to my interests as a resident of Okanogan county. She has used my tax dollars to support the American Lands Council, which seeks to transfer responsibility and costs of management of federal public lands to local entities. She has neglected including health professionals on the board of the health department. She has increased costs through contracting out services to private entities which were previously performed in house, such as weed control. Through failure to consider the comments of constituents, she has made decisions which have led to litigation in multiple areas. And she has decreased the transparency of county government through a sharp increase in the number of executive sessions of county commissioners—where we don’t know what is discussed.

Shiela Kennedy doesn’t take kindly to criticism. When the Omak Chronicle questioned county commissioners’ decisions, she wondered if they were in violation of contract as county “newspaper of record” (later, the commissioners did grant a new contract to another paper). Shiela tends to see conspiracies of “outside interests”, “west side” funding and the like when we say we don’t like what she does.

I have lived full time and owned property in Okanogan county for over 9 years. And I am strongly opposed to the incumbent candidacy of Shiela Kennedy for county commissioner. Chris Branch will bring a much needed breath of fresh air to the office of county commissioner.

Chris Hogness

Mazama