New Candidates Make Chelan Co Commission Primary Race Competitive

There are now three candidates for the Chelan County Commission seat being vacated by Tiffany Gering.

Fire District 5 Commissioner Chris Willoughby and local business owner and developer Flint Hartwig have joined Brandt Cappell in the race.

The three candidates are vying for the District 3 seat which covers the Sunnyslope area as well as the Lake Chelan area.

Gering announced she wouldn't be running for reelection earlier this month.

Cappell, Willoughby, and Hartwig will face each other in the August primary.

Willoughby must still file for the seat with the Washington Public Disclosure Commission. The official filing period is May 6-10.

Willoughby lives in Manson and has served as a Volunteer Firefighter/EMT for over three decades and has also served as an EMT for Lake Chelan Valley EMS for nearly 20 years.

He was elected and became a Chelan County Fire District 5 Fire Commissioner this year, where he is vice chairman. He also runs a family orchard.

Hartwig lives north of Wenatchee and is co-owner of Eider Construction and Eider Properties.

As a developer, Hartwig led the group S.P.O.R.T. Gymnastics in an effort to repurpose a warehouse at Columbia Street and Orondo Avenue into an athletic adventure area with batting cages and a rooftop bar.

Financing never materialized and the project was abandoned. Other efforts to redevelop the warehouse have also fallen through.

Last July, Hartwig's Eider Properties was released from its commitment to build 84 units on Red Apple Road as affordable housing.

Hartwig spoke extensively at a Wenatchee City Council meeting last July in which the council changed an agreement with Eider Properties to allow it to take advantage of an eight-year tax break. A portion of the apartments were still to be offered as affordable housing.

Hartwig told city councilors the housing market had changed and construction costs had spiked.

In addition, Eider Properties recently sold a site on Ohme Garden Road to Chelan County for $1.8 million. The county plans to construct several buildings on the property.

Cappell is a legislative aide for state Representative Keith Goehner.

Cappell, Willoughby, and Hartwig are all running for Chelan County Commission as Republicans.

The field of three candidates will be reduced to two in the August 6 primary election.