by Richard Uhlhorn
Last Wednesday’s Lake Chelan Chamber of Commerce 2025 Candidates Forum was an apathetic example of voter and candidate interest.
Only five candidates turned out to voice their wishes to be voted for and an estimated 25 voters were in attendance, some of which were their to support their specific candidate.
Dave Reinhart – Fire Commission candidate challenging current commissioner Ron Simmons was first on stage to answer questions and give a two-minute explanation of why he was running.
Reinhart, a retired law enforcement officer stated he would push for volunteer recruitment, engage with the residents and work hard on homeowner insurance issues if he was elected.
Kylie Schmitz, a Manson Parks Board candidate and mother of young children stated that her interest in the position is to serve the public with the issues facing the parks.
Krysta Westmoreland is seeking a position on the Manson School Board. As a mother with children in the school district, Westmoreland is committed to maintaining a balanced budget and making sure that the students have the programs available to succeed. “I know my perspective may be different than others, but I want to serve everyone in the community.”
Jordana La Porte is seeking her reappointment to the Lake Chelan Health board of commissioners. She is currently the chair of the board and has been over the seven years served, a stalwart finance member of the board. She is still focused on the hospital’s financial system and said, “We were in negative numbers for the past seven years and have now gotten on track.” She is also committed to the highest quality of health care for the community.
La Porte also stated that the hospital is facing challenging time with Medicad and Medicare which is 75% of the hospital’s income.
Shane Collins is a fourth generation farmer who stated that the community is facing development challenges and changes. He wants to protect development but said he needs to know more about the city’s infrastructure issues.
Affordable housing is high on his list of priorities and said, “I would like to make it easier for people to build affordable homes. We need to keep fees and costs down.”
He is a believer in the community’s tourism, inviting more people to the valley. “Most people I know rely on tourism dollars.” Collins is a parks board member and has served on the Washington Wine Alliance for 10 year.
“There are a lot of issues in the community and I promise to work hard if elected.”
The evenjng’s 35 minute session was monitored by KOZI’s David Mars.
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