No Place Like Home - Unless It’s Outside District You Represent

A Port of Kennewick commissioner must step down because her house lies outside the district she was elected to represent last November, a judge ruled.

A disappointed Sue Frost said she will appeal Tuesday’s ruling by Benton County Superior Court Judge Dennis Yule, who declined to name Frost’s opponent and ex-husband - Wally Hickerson - to fill the seat.

Frost was elected port commissioner from District 1, but Yule concluded her home is just outside the district.

Hickerson notified Benton County Auditor Bobbie Gagner of the situation three weeks before the election, but it was too late to remove Frost’s name from the ballot.

Frost won with 14,421 votes to Hickerson’s 9,496.

Hickerson - whose five-year marriage to Frost ended in 1990 - said he was “tickled to death” by the decision.

Public Disclosure Commission records indicate Frost spent $74,000 of her own money on her campaign. Frost said the figure was an initial estimate, and that she actually spent about $60,000.