West Richland councilwoman challenged by candidate saying he’s the ‘conservative choice’

Kate Moran is being challenged for her position on the West Richland City Council by David Cole in the only contested race for that council on the November ballot.

Moran has served on the council since 2020.

Cole, who has lived in West Richland for 17 years, is running as “the conservative choice for West Richland.”

He responded to a 2023 “Vote for Business” questionnaire from the Tri-City Regional Chamber of Commerce that preventing or limiting the Horse Heaven Hills wind farm development was one of the most important issues facing the Tri-Cities.

Other issues he called important include an increase in violent crime with the police hampered; protecting parental rights in the wake of Senate Bill 5599, which expands rights of youth for gender-affirming treatment; homelessness and accompanying crime and drug abuse; and the impact of new Washington state housing legislation, including expanded housing allowed in neighborhoods for single family homes.

He said in his survey response that he would advance policies “that strengthen family friendly neighborhoods and an environment that allows businesses to thrive, while maintaining a committed resistance to encroaching Seattle-style politics.”

He opposes allowing retail cannabis stores in West Richland, he said. Most tax revenue from cannabis stores goes to Washington state rather than to local governments, he said.

The collateral impacts of cannabis would be a net negative to the community, he said in a prepared statement read at the League of Women Voters candidate forum. He did not attend.

West Richland is poised for growth, with the potential to double in size and population in 10 years, he said in the statement.

Proposed development of the Lewis and Clark Ranch land, which could include thousands of homes and a new commercial and retail center, will require sound management to provide infrastructure, he said.

Balanced growth will continue to provide a family friendly city and a healthy economic base, he said.

As a former deputy sheriff in Houston, Texas, and former employee of the Washington state Department of Corrections, he’s concerned about increased criminal activity in West Richland, he said.

His filing with the Washington state Public Disclosure Commission listed his job as an engineering technician at Hanford. He has worked at Hanford for 23 years.

Council member Kate Moran

Moran said she wants to give the public a chance to be heard on allowing cannabis retail sales in West Richland, she said at the League of Women Voters forum.

The West Richland Council is expected to vote on whether to allow cannabis retail sales at its Nov. 21 meeting after a public hearing before the city council at 6 p.m. Nov. 7.

A 2023 West Richland community survey showed that 48% of respondents strongly or somewhat support cannabis sales and 34% strongly or somewhat oppose the sales.

Emotions are running high among both those who want to allow the stores and also those who oppose them, she said.

She also referred to a report to the council on law enforcement service calls to Nirvana Cannabis, which adjoins a West Richland neighborhood but is not in the city limits. The report showed that there were more calls for law enforcement service to West Richland grocery and convenience stores than to the cannabis shop.

Moran responded to the chamber survey, saying that a lack of affordable housing is a major issue facing the Tri-Cities area.

“Adjusting our zoning and planning with future growth in mind can help mitigate the worst of this crisis, but this won’t be easily solved and will take an extended group effort,” she said.

West Richland also lacks daytime employment, and expanding infrastructure could help attract businesses, she said.

Businesses continue to struggle with excessive and onerous permitting processes, she said in the chamber survey. She supports small business incubators and sunsetting and reevaluating existing regulations and impact fees, she said.

But growth must be balanced, she said. She does not favor “massive” industrial and commercial growth, but the city needs some for a tax base to pay for maintenance of roads, parks and other needs, she said at the League of Women Voters forum.

Law enforcement and safety is the highest importance in the city, she said during the forum. But West Richland has had a lower increase in crime than the entire state of Washington, she said.

Moran has recently taken a job with the Department of Energy as a facility representative after working as a nuclear facility specialist for Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

Both Cole and Moran are Navy veterans.

Moran has spent about $4,620 on her campaign, according to the Washington state Public Disclosure Commission. Cole had spent about $3,140, as of his latest report in mid May.

The election is Nov. 7.

West Richland has drive up ballot drop boxes at the library at 3803 W. Van Giesen St. and at City Hall at 3100 Belmont Blvd., or ballots may be mailed several days before the election to ensure they are postmarked in Spokane by Nov. 7.