MOSES LAKE — Grant County Commission candidates Amador Castro and Kevin Burgess both described themselves as hard workers and said they would be committed to doing the job during a Moses Lake candidate forum Monday. 

The forum was sponsored by the Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce, the Columbia Basin Herald and KWIQ Radio. The sponsors submitted the questions, and the forum used a format where candidates did not always get the same question. 

Both Burgess and Castro were asked about homelessness in Grant County, its effect on private property, and the commission’s role in addressing it. 

“That’s a tall order,” Burgess said. “I think we need to get grouped together and figure out a solution. I think it starts with drugs being in our community that shouldn’t be here.”  

The commissioners should work with the Grant County Sheriff’s Office and local police departments to figure out what can be done to improve enforcement of drug laws. He cited Civic Park in Moses Lake, behind the Civic Center and the Moses Lake Police Department office, as a location of reported drug use. 

“I think that’s a big problem,” he said. 

In addition, county officials should talk with property owners where homeless encampments are set up and determine how to remove them, Burgess said. 

“We need to figure out a solution for where (homeless people) can go to get help and resources,” he added. 

Castro said homelessness is a challenge countywide. 

“We have to understand what has caused a lot of this. I think a big portion of that is the leniency of laws in our state, so I think we would need to work with our state (legislators) to really push to have laws that are changed to where we can hold people accountable for the things they’re doing. And then, when they are arrested, really push to see what are the issues behind it, and what are the resources we have to help them with that.” 

Castro said he’s not opposed to mandatory commitment to rehabilitation.  

Both were asked about a lack of collaboration, real or perceived, between county and city officials and what they would do to change that.  

Castro is a teacher at Vanguard Academy in Moses Lake and said that experience has been valuable. 

“I’m a collaborator, and that’s one of the things that as a teacher, we do well,” he said.  “I love working with people, I love listening to people’s issues and hearing their ideas and coming up with the hard questions that need to be asked sometimes. That’s one of the things I love doing, and that’s the only way to really change the perception, is by doing the work.”  

Burgess said he would encourage more communication.  

“The commissioners have to have an open-door policy,” he said. “We need to have meetings with these people and ask them, ‘What can we do as a commission to help each other?’ Right now, I don’t feel like that’s happening.” 

Castro was asked about growth in Grant County, encouraging and maintaining a diversified economy. He said growth was essential, in part to encourage young people to stay or come back after they finish school.  

“A stagnant county is a dying county, so we need to bring in different industries,” Castro said. “One of the things that I’ve constantly dealt with (in conversations) with students that graduated is they feel like they have to leave.”  

There is opportunity in Grant County, and more needs to be done to let people know that, he said. 

“I don’t think people understand what is actually here, and we need to get that out there more,” he said.  

Burgess was questioned about development and development rules, and he said in his opinion many of them were unnecessary. He cited the designation of some species as threatened or endangered in shrub-steppe habitat, saying it needed to be eliminated. 

“It’s nonsense,” he said.  

Some of the species under protection are not in this area, he said. 

To watch the full forum, visit: https://bit.ly/MLFORUM24