East Columbia Basin Irrigation District to select two directors
CHERYL SCHWEIZER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 8 years, 3 months AGO
Senior Reporter Cheryl Schweizer is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience serving small communities in the Pacific Northwest. She began her post-high-school education at Treasure Valley Community College and enerned her journalism degree at Oregon State University. After working for multiple publications, she has settled down at the Columbia Basin Herald and has been a staple of the newsroom for more than a decade. Schweizer’s dedication to her communities and profession has earned her the nickname “The Baroness of Bylines.” She covers a variety of beats including health, business and various municipalities. | December 5, 2017 2:00 AM
OTHELLO — It turns out there are two seats on the East Columbia Basin Irrigation District board of directors up for election Dec. 12.
Landowners in Director Divisions 1 and 4 will be choosing directors for three-year terms. People qualified to vote can cast ballots at the irrigation district office, 55 N. Eighth Ave., Othello, or by absentee ballot.
Both seats are for three-year terms. Candidates for the Direction Division No. 1 are Donald Osborne, Dennis Mickelson and Bill Stevens. Osborne is the incumbent.
Incumbent Duaine Anderson is being challenged by Ross Fox in Director Division No. 4.
The poll will be open from 1 to 8 p.m. Dec. 12 in the irrigation district boardroom. Absentee ballots can be obtained at the district office, 509-488-9671. Candidates are also authorized to distribute absentee ballot applications, according to a press release from the district.
Absentee ballots must be postmarked no later than midnight Dec. 12, or they can be returned in person to the irrigation district office before 8 p.m. Dec. 12. The irrigation district board will meet Dec. 18 to count the absentee ballots.
Qualified voters must own land within the director division and must be Washington residents. Voters can cast ballots only in the director division where they live or the one closest to the land they own.
Owners of less than 10 acres receive one vote; owners of more than 10 acres have two votes. Husbands and wives owning land as community property can both vote, or one can delegate their vote to the other. “Voting for land held by corporations or other legal entities, such as trusts or LLCs, can be done by delegating the voting rights to a designated representatives,” the press release said. Landowners who have questions about voting status can contact the district office.
Director Division No. 1 is that part of the irrigation district in Grant County, north of Wheeler Road.
Director Division No. 4 is in Adams County. It’s bounded on the north by the Grant-Adams county line and to the south by the Franklin-Adams county line. The west boundary is the irrigation district boundary, and the east boundary is formed by Booker Road, Cunningham Road and Fox Road and its extension.
Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at [email protected].
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