Longtime Basin resident and businessman will run as a Democrat

Moses Lake resident and businessman Ritchie Norman has announced his candidacy for Grant County Commissioner, District 2 position. Norman, a Democrat, will run against three-term incumbent LeRoy Allison.

Allison is a Republican and is the presiding chair of the Commission.

"I believe it is time for a change in Grant County and that the recent fiscal crisis and mismanagement of the county's budget, which may result in a budget shortfall exceeding $2 million, must be dealt with immediately and not at an additional burden to taxpayers," Norman said in a press release.

Norman's goals, he said, are to bring a new level of transparency and accountability to the County Commission. That commitment, he said is to create local jobs through county contracts and development projects — working to insure that taxpayer money stays in Grant County and is "not outsourced to corporations that will take our money and spend it outside of our communities."

Norman also plans to thoroughly review expenditures on the judicial system, which presently comprises 75 percent of the county's budget, and has "been riddled with scandal and controversy from inadequate indigent defense services and multiple complaints against the practices of the prosecutor's office and Superior Court judges."

Responding to the allocations to the judicial system, Norman cites excessive criminal filings and jail costs that seem frivolous and disproportionate when compared to the crime rates of larger, more densely populated counties.

"The fact that nearly every elected department head in this county was willing to sign their name on a letter of no confidence in the leadership of the Commissioners speaks volumes of my opponent's inability to fulfill the duties of his position," Norman said. "The citizens of Grant County need a team builder that is going to first and foremost be a good steward of our tax dollars and second, be able to work with the leadership of Grant County to bring us out of this fiscal crisis and provide the services that the citizens of this county are entitled to."

Norman said he plans to meet with county officials and host public town hall forums to dialogue with the citizens of Grant County.

"I hope to begin an open relationship with voters that incorporates public feedback in the decision-making process," he said of his campaign plans.