Ferry County Commissioner

Thu., Sept. 12, 1996

By John Craig johnc@spokesman.com

Seven candidates are scrapping over two Ferry County commissioner’s positions.

Republicans Lorna Johnson and Dennis Snook and Democrats Chris Kroupa and Ed Watt want to represent the county’s northern district.

In the county’s southern district, most of which is within the Colville Indian Reservation, incumbent Gary Kohler and fellow Democrat Jerry Sullivan are competing for the right to face Republican David Schumacher in November.

Johnson, 39, came to the Curlew area in 1975. She is secretary of the Ferry County Republican Party and holds positions in regional and state Republican organizations.

Johnson and her husband, Douglas Barnes, have three children. She operates an apple orchard and a home-based business that sells everything from plumbing supplies to food.

Snook, 53, moved to a small farm near Curlew eight years ago from Seattle, where he retired as a Fire Department battalion chief. He serves on Ferry County’s Kettle River Advisory Board. Snook and his wife, Glenda, have three adult children.

Kroupa, 48, grew up in the Curlew area and operates Kettle River Pottery. He and his wife, Nicole, have three sons. He served 1 years on the Curlew School board.

Watt, also 48, moved to the Malo area 27 years ago from Puyallup and grows Shiitake oyster mushrooms. He is on the county’s Solid Waste Advisory Committee and helped write interim regulations under the state Growth Management Act. Watt is single and has no children.

Kohler, 54, has lived all his life on the 1,500-acre cattle ranch he operates near Inchelium. He and his wife, Joyce, have four children ranging in age from 19 to 31.

Sullivan, 59, retired in April after 14 years as administrator of Inchelium’s Roman Catholic parish. He and his wife, Ilene, have been married five years. He has no children.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: THE JOB Ferry County commissioners serve four-year terms and are paid $25,470 annually.

This sidebar appeared with the story: THE JOB Ferry County commissioners serve four-year terms and are paid $25,470 annually.

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