CORRECTION/CLARIFICATION: July 17, 2025 - “Ephrata mayoral candidates debate issues” - The salary for the mayor of Ephrata position was incorrectly stated. The mayor of Ephrata makes $6,000 annually per the city’s budget. Clarification regarding the availability of rail and airport facilities at the Port of Ephrata: Rail and airport were risks for a data center and data center companies were concerned about the risks building near such facilities would put their data centers in. 

This information has been updated below.

EPHRATA – Ephrata Mayoral candidates came to the Columbia Basin Herald office Monday to talk about their positions on the issues. Incumbent Bruce Reim and opponent Steve Oliver answered questions around transparency, tax burdens, criminal activity and the local economy.  

The two candidates rolled the dice before the debate to decide who would speak first. Oliver rolled a higher number and allowed Reim to start.  

Introduction 

Reim said he is a lifelong resident of Ephrata, with his family moving here in the 1950s. He graduated from Ephrata High School. He later went on to Eastern Washington State College, which rebranded as Eastern Washington University while he attended. 

“While I was there, I got my degree in social work and economics, and came back to town and ended up working about three blocks from where I grew up,” he said.  

Reim said he got involved with politics while he was working for a local group home. He said he now has experience with politics from the local level all the way up to the federal level.  

“It's been very enjoyable,” Reim said. 

He retired in 2005 and spends time with his wife, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  

Oliver said he was born at Fairchild Air Force Base in Spokane, with his family moving around to several states, including Idaho and Wyoming, before settling back in Spokane.  

When he turned 16, he wanted to see the world, so he began traveling the country and internationally. In his late 20s, he visited a friend in Ephrata.  

“I came to visit him, but the city, I just fell in love with it,” Oliver said. “I just couldn't wait to come back here and plant roots. And I did that almost 30 years ago.” 

He has since opened his own tattoo studio and said that as a business owner, he's had the opportunity to meet people and hear their stories. With that, he said he realized that he and many other community members had similar ideas on what needed to be fixed in Ephrata.  

“I have all my stake invested in Ephrata and making it the best place I possibly can,” Oliver said.  

Transparency 

Oliver, in regard to transparency, said the city has improved its website, however, when he went through it to review it, he said he found quite a bit of information missing.  

“I had to do (public records) requests to get that (information). It is not listed on the website or the city council agenda minutes,” Oliver said. “Because of that, it's got me interested in digging deeper.”  

Specifically, he had concerns over a raise for city staff. 

“I searched for information on a piece of information I received where the mayor gave everyone in City Hall a 5% raise back in 2023, scouring the city's website, where it has the City Council minutes posted,” Oliver said. “There was nothing about this measure on the city council website.”  

However, City Administrator Ray Towry said in 2023, there was a 4.1% budgeted cost-of-living increase given to all the employees. This was included in the budget proposal, which was passed by the city council on Dec. 6, 2023. The raise was not unilaterally approved by Reim, but the mayor signs all ordinances or formal actions passed by the council as part of his duties. The minutes can be found on the city’s website.  

“It was just part of the budget. We do that every year. So, every employee got a 4.1% cost-of-living adjustment,” Towry said.  

A public notice regarding the proposed raise was posted at Ephrata City Hall as well, as required by state law. A copy of the notice is available on the city’s site at: https://bit.ly/RS2023EPH. 

Oliver said he would like to see more transparency from the city government on how tax dollars are being spent. He also said he would like to see city staff walking into businesses and asking how the city is doing for local businesses.

“Just actually getting on the street and learning who we're working for,” Oliver said. 

He also said he plans to work for free if elected. The mayor’s position receives an annual salary of $6,000, according to the city’s website. 

“I'll forgo my salary in order to give it to better programs for kids in town,” Oliver said. “Of course, I would love to have the money, but the money is for the people.” 

Reim said the government should be as forthright and transparent as possible.

“Part of being able to do that is making data available,” Reim said. “All of our policies and procedures are on our website. The council meetings are all open to the public – first and third Wednesdays of every month.”  

Reim said city staff are working on a new website to improve transparency.

“We feel that we are more than transparent when it comes to stuff like that,” Reim said. 

He said over the years, he has noticed an improvement in information access. He said that through the help of social media, the city has been able to be more transparent with the public.  

“We feel very confident about our transparency and the availability to look at all our policies and procedures and expectations on the website,” Reim said. 

Reim said he also tries to set up interviews and meetings to discuss any concerns or workings of the city’s government.  

Affordability  

The next question concerned the mayor’s role in ensuring the tax burden, and water and sewer costs, are affordable for residents, especially with overall increased cost of living. 

Reim said the biggest issue the city government is responsible for is sewer and water. 

“We have over 50 miles of roadway in Ephrata, and underneath almost all of that is water and sewer,” Reim said. "The Ephrata town was created back in the 40s as a flight training school. Therefore, the infrastructure was rather archaic at that time.” 

Reim said the city is working to improve the wastewater treatment plant, which is getting old and parts are often only available on eBay.  

During the debate, Reim had initially said the plant was built in the early 2000s, but the Columbia Basin Herald reporting indicates it was built in 1998. 

Reim said the city has spent a lot of time the last handful of years preparing for a complete remodel of the wastewater treatment plant. 

Last year, the city awarded a contract for $9.8 million to Clearwater Construction for a comprehensive upgrade to the facility, which the Columbia Basin Herald reported on at the time. Of that, $6.05 million is funded via a low-interest loan from the state. Comparably, according to Fehr Graham Engineering, the average cost for a new wastewater facility for a city the size of Ephrata is about $12 million. 

“There's nothing worse in the city than when you want to get water, that it's not there, or you want to get rid of water, and you can't do that,” Reim said.  

Reim then discussed the new water tower, which will increase water pressure throughout town. Reim said the city has also started a new program called Purple Pipe, which allows reclaimed water to be used for non-potable situations.  

“We've already done it,” Reim said. “You will see part of that come to fruition when the new roundabout goes in, up at Walmart. So, a lot of plans and stuff like that are already in the works to do that.” 

Oliver said the city’s infrastructure is old, and the city is in a constant game of catching up and fixing things that are breaking down. Part of that problem is funding challenges, he said. 

“The problem with this place is we don't have any natural attractions, so we don't get a lot of tourist money, even though we are a tourist town, the answer is very simple, stop taxing the people for the problems that we need to fix and bring in a secondary source of income,” Oliver said.  

Oliver said a good source of secondary revenue would be bringing in data centers. 

“The data centers have tried to come in, first of all, and when we turned them away, they did go to Quincy,” Oliver said. 

However, Towry explained that the city was never approached by a data center to locate in Ephrata. 

“But we did, in fact, reach out to server famers, and I know because I connected with them,” Towry said. 

Towry said after the data center representatives visited the area, they realized the airport and rail presented risks they did not want to build near.

Air and rail facilities in Ephrata fall under the authority of the Port of Ephrata, a separate municipality from the city. The city partners with the port and the port has told the Columbia Basin Herald that it is working to improve its air and rail facilities, but that will take time. 

Grant Public Utility District Vice President of Customer Experience and Large Power Solutions, Andy Wendell, said Ephrata does not have the infrastructure for a data center. 

“Data centers today are generally in the 10-megawatt or larger range. Current infrastructure, transmission line capacity, in the Ephrata area is limited,” Wendell wrote in an email to the Columbia Basin Herald. “The ability to serve organic growth remains; however, large industrial loads like data centers are very limited in Ephrata, like many other areas in the county.”  

Oliver said he has been talking with an engineer at Grant PUD, who said there is a possibility of using the 115 lines from Rocky Ford Creek to supply power to the potential data centers. 

Wendell confirmed this was a possibility in the future. 

“The Rocky Ford transmission switchyard and transfer station could be one of a few sources in the region for developing future transmission lines and switchyards that could eventually support data centers or other larger-load customers,” Wendell wrote. 

Oliver said if the city were able to get a data center, the city would make money similar to Quincy and could use the money to make improvements. He said this includes better water infrastructure.  

He would also like to bring tourism to the city. 

“It would benefit the town immensely, being a tourist city, for people to actually stop and do some tourism as it is … If we look to (supplement) our income with secondary sources, we'll definitely find a way to find plenty of money to fix everything we need,” Oliver said.  

Crime 

Oliver said he would like to investigate what has been done, what worked, what hasn’t worked and explore new options to mitigate crime in Ephrata. He said he hasn’t seen a lot of innovation on the issue, and youth boredom is part of the problem. 

“One of the big problems is, what do kids do? They're bored. We have nothing for them to do,” he said. 

Oliver said there are some options, such as the Splash Zone, but he said there aren't many options outside of sports for children. 

“Not everybody wants to do sports, and there's really no option to press sports for kids to do most of the year,” Oliver said. “We don't offer any music or arts programs, because that seems to be something that is such a marginalized group of people. We overlook that.” 

Oliver said he believes children are bored due to a lack of options, though, especially affordable ones.  

“We don't have any splash pads. We don't have any sort of activities. The pool has become very expensive to a lot of people, and a splash pad would be great for people that have young kids.”  

Ephrata School District Director of Communications Sarah Morford said the district offers several opportunities for students to participate in art and music programs. 

“During the 23-24 school year, we had nearly 600 kids from grades six through 12 participate in activities, and those can be anything from elective classes, which might be band and choir, or it can be college in high school and other things like that.” 

Morford said the district also has a choir program at both the middle and high school levels. She also mentioned the annual EHS Cabaret show, which has around 100 students and staff. There are also opportunities for students to join a band or orchestra from fifth grade through high school. There are also several art classes and clubs that students can join.  

Outside of the district, Ephrata Parks and Recreation also offers activities for children relating to arts and music. According to statistics supplied by the city in response to a Columbia Basin Herald public records request, there were 571 people who participated in arts activities between 2024 and 2025. In total, the Ephrata Parks and Recreation has seen almost 6,000 people at various events from youth sports to senior programs.  

The Ephrata Public Library, part of the North Central Washington Libraries district, also offers a wide variety of arts and reading programs and activities. 

Reim said he doesn’t feel like it’s the city’s responsibility to be the "entertainment department,” however, he supports the idea of adding more activities for children.  

“I think there are other avenues, such as the chamber or organizations and such that can facilitate all of that, and if they have the money and they feel that there's a need for that, again, goes back to supply and demand,” Reim said.  

As far as criminal activity goes, Reim said there are 15 officers available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. 

“They patrol over 50 miles of roadway every day,” Reim said. “When it comes to criminal activity, the citizens of Ephrata do a great job of informing us and the police department." 

The Grant County Sheriff’s Office is also headquartered in Ephrata and works with Ephrata PD regularly, according to GCSO and Ephrata PD blotter data. 

Reim said that through various investigations, the city is discovering that a lot of gang-related crime is not always committed by local children.  

“We also have a very strong presence in the school district,” Reim said.  

Reim said crime is a constant issue that the city is working on. He said they are tweaking and working ways to ensure Ephrata is safe. 

“It's still very safe and honorable, and you can go outside and walk at night, and you can enjoy that,” Reim said. 

Local economy 

Reim said downtown revitalization has challenges associated with a flood zone caused by the canal on the north side of the city.  

“We've had to deal with FEMA, with that for decades, on that thing, and it's a difficult situation,” Reim said. “We could eliminate FEMA. We could do all that stuff, and your property insurance rates will go through the roof. A big part of what we're doing is reassessing ... the criteria that was used to create the flood zone.” 

Reim said that because of the flood zone, he knows that if businesses want to remodel or upgrade, once they hit the 50% value mark, they are required to meet the flood zone expectations, which is costly.  

“We are having a heck of a time with businesses who want to do that, so we're working diligently behind the scenes to try to make that available,” Reim said. “Part of it has to go back with code enforcement.” 

The city is in the process of hiring a code enforcement officer, Reim said. 

Oliver said he has never had anyone from the city visit his business to ask what they can do for him. He said there is a lack of interaction between the city and business owners.  

“Business owners are not asked what needs to be done,” Oliver said. “We're the heart of that city because we're the only ones that are independently owned. We are trying to make the city better by offering our best to all these customers. We need something in return,” he said. 

That includes knowing buildings are safe and having a forum to discuss issues with city officials.  

Reim rebutted that city officials are available at all city council meetings or by calling City Hall and making themselves available to business owners and residents as requested. 

Oliver said he doesn’t feel like going to the city council results in much, which is why there is low attendance. 

“I know personally, when I've had problems, I don't want to form a committee and I don't want to take it to a middleman,” Oliver said. “I'd like to go with someone who can actually help.” 

Oliver also brought up signage restrictions, which limit how businesses can market themselves. 

“We have a ridiculous sign restriction that's made in the city of Kent, which doesn't make any sense, geography or population-wise, since they are three to four times our size, if not more,” Oliver said.  

Basin Street used to be vibrant and colorful, he said.  

“Now it just looks like an old, sad retirement home with tiny little signs and everything's a shade of gray,” Oliver said. “There's no vibrancy in the town.” 

Oliver said he would like to see city staff make more of an effort to engage with local businesses.  

Miss the debate?  

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