Richland’s 2020 budget was $308,731,535

We need patriots with integrity to run for City Council to replace what we have. The City Council controls the Police who could be our defenders or the boots on our faces. They also control the City Attorney and could have been spending some of our money to defend our rights in court against Inslee’s edicts.

Back in March of 2021, I wrote all of the Council members for Richland (you can’t call them because their phone numbers are not published) with this simple question: “What would you say is the purpose of government? And, How would you define the proper role of government?” The only one to reply was the guy who lost his primary election: Bob Thompson. I was also able to get a reply from the Mayor Ryan Lukson because I called him on his cell phone that was listed on his old campaign site. But the answer Lukson gave was a socialist answer about government being our provider. Mayor Lukson also signed this proclamation siding with the United Nations’ World Health Organization to tie infertility treatments to basic human rights that “all people… should have access”.
To be fair, I don’t think Lukson paid any attention to the proclamation and was just rubber stamping the thing because after I wrote a letter to the editor in the Harold (and emailed Lukson a link), the next meeting talked about the process of evaluating requests for proclamations that are submitted. However, a patriot who loves the constitution would have spotted this and rejected it.

I got no other replies to that email or to followup emails I sent, and I even brought up those emails and requested a response in public comment to the council members at the council meetings on three separate occasions. So, in my mind, they all all empty suits at best and all need to be replace. Unfortunately, I’m not seeing as many of the quality of contenders as I do with the School board races, and two are decidedly worse than the incumbents.

Council Pos. 1 – this is the race that had eliminated the incumbent Bob Thompson in the primary.

Jhoanna R. Jones gets my vote. She gave the very best answer to my question: “From my perspective, the purpose of government is to protect our individual freedoms. A limited, decentralized government that safeguards against encroachment. Fiscally responsible that upholds the rule of law ( this is very important to me as a police officer’s wife), which is the foundation of this country.” (emphasis added)
She is supported by unions, an animal rights group (that may contradict her statement on individual freedoms), and real estate interests, and did not reply to my question about her donors, so we’ll need to keep an eye on her votes. But she is by far better than her opponent:

Chaune’ Fitzgerald is one of the most dangerous candidates to our freedoms in the City of Richland in my opinion. Read the article to expound on her socialist, globalist, and New Age foundations.

Council Pos. 2

Theresa Richardson gets my vote. She is part of the grass roots movement in the Tri-Cites, strongly supports the constitution and limited government, is looking toward private solutions to homelessness solutions for Richland, and is very well qualified.

Incumbent Marianne Boring still hasn’t responded to my emails and my showing up to City Council Meetings since March asking a simple question “What would you say is the purpose of government? And, How would you define the proper role of government?” It takes a tremendous amount of not caring about your constituents to ignore such a request. The City Manager (who does have a phone in City Hall) assured me that all the council members received my email with that question.

Council Pos. 3

Sandra Kent gets my reluctant vote. While she has also ignored my question, and doesn’t even have a campaign website to court the electorate, at least she is not her opponent:

Larry Stanley is what I would call a “Screaming Radical Socialist” who is constantly promoting the Alliance Party, that pretends to be a break-away from the Republican and Democrat parties, but is an amalgamation of the worst of them. He passes on fake news about the boarder crisis, posts from Greta Thunberg, and pushed vaccinations. It is possible that Larry is more dangerous than Chaune’ Fitzgerald.

Council Pos. 4

Ryan Lukson gets my reluctant vote. While he had answered my question only because I found his cell phone number on his old campaign website, gave an answer about “government is here to take care of you” and doesn’t currently have a campaign website to court the electorate, at least he is not his opponent:

Ginger Wireman (seems to me) is most excited about getting everyone vaccinated and for Richland to lead against the impacts of “climate change”. She says she helped launch Flatten the Curve TC on Facebook, but I can’t find the group (could have been renamed). Her funding is in part from Washing State Democrats, a Union, and her web page is paid for by Wireman4Richland (with a Kennewick address).

Council Pos. 7

Kurt H Maier gets my vote. He doesn’t need the job and I think it is a sacrifice for him to do so. Here’s how he answered my question about the purpose of government:

Sure, I’d be happy to. The purpose of government is to enable society.
Its role is to protect the rights of its citizens, both individually (through legislature, law enforcement and the courts system) and collectively (through national defense and foreign relations). Specifically, I think Richland’s code is increasingly an impediment to that role, and I don’t think City Council is focused on doing what it can to correct that.
I hope this helps your decision, and thanks for reaching out.

ME: Would you expound a little on Richland’s code being an impediment to the goals of proper governance?

I’d be happy to. As the Code ages, various sessions of City Council have amended it, both to adjust to a changing world and to reflect the needs of our community.
I don’t believe that Council has been diligent in updating the Code to adjust to the changing world. I’ve mentioned elsewhere that the Richland City Code has a chapter about “Teenage Dance Halls,” which were extinct by the time I was a teenager — and my children assure me I was a teenager an inexcusably long time ago. The Code also mandates that roller skating rinks close at midnight, and dance halls may stay open for another half hour past that. We are never treated to an explanation for these differences, but if the proprietor gets it wrong, they could be put in prison for a year, which seems excessive. This is the sort of outdated law that the City would be better off without.
Most often, changes are externally-motivated; the City Council will receive a petition from a business (often via the Planning Commission) to amend, for example, the minimum-parking chart, so they can open a specific type of business in a specific building. However, this never seems to prompt a further examination of the relevant Codes. The Council hears the request, votes yea or nay, and drops the matter. As a result of this sort of approach, our parking regulations are six thousand words long, and base the number of spots required on a combination of business type, square footage of building, and other considerations. Our parking code is almost impossible to understand, and if you want to open a business, it’s your problem! Being surprised by arbitrary parking minimums has stymied more than one business trying to get started, and there are other examples in other parts of the Code.
I believe that Council should hire a professional consultant and attack this problem systematically. There are public policy experts whose services can help drive a comprehensive modernization effort to streamline and simplify the Richland Municipal Code. The law is like any other tool — it benefits from maintenance. The city owes it to its citizens to make sure the law is consistent, reliable, and transparent. It’s bad management to offload the cost of maintaining the Code to our citizens and their businesses, even if it is easy politically.
I feel that way about all levels of government, but I am not the person who can pursue that. I am happy in my supercomputing career and not interested in becoming a professional politician. I do, however, believe that Richland can lead by example in this regard. So far, a missed opportunity.

Incumbent Michael Alvarez still hasn’t responded to my emails and my showing up to City Council Meetings since March asking a simple question “What would you say is the purpose of government? And, How would you define the proper role of government?” It takes a tremendous amount of not caring about your constituents to ignore such a request. The City Manager (who does have a phone in City Hall) assured me that all the council members received my email with that question. Alvarez is endorsed and supported by realtors and a union leadership (not necessarily by union workers).