Rural 7th District stands on its own

Northeastern Washington’s largely rural 7th Legislative District is one of the most conservative and independent in the state.

If a politician offers a helping hand, it had better not require more taxes or regulations.

Across the state and the nation, either liberals or conservatives can gain control of the political teeter-totter. But in the 7th District, liberals generally have air under their feet.

Stevens County Commissioner Malcolm Friedman estimates the conservative-liberal political ratio at 70-30.

The Spokesman-Review interviewed three people waiting in line at the county auditor’s auto licensing counter and got similar results.

Lorna Johnson, of Colville, was looking for an honest and fair state representative – “who wants to keep taxes down, of course.”

Christy Becker wanted someone who’s concerned about the environment. She lives in Northport, where the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is cleaning up old mining pollution, and she thinks more work is needed.

Bernice Gorsuch, of Colville, favored a candidate who would deliver “less government.” Gorsuch also was concerned about the environment, but she thought forests need to be thinned and “the government is taking more and more of our land.”

Restrictions on private property rights remain highly unpopular, but population growth has created some chinks. Facing new urban-style intrusions such as cell phone towers and group homes, rural residents have called for what Friedman termed “surgical” government intervention.

Residents of the 7th District frequently choose Democrats for non-legislative county offices, but they increasingly prefer Republicans as county commissioners. They haven’t elected a Democrat to the state Legislature since Tom Bristow won a seat in the House in 1988.

“They like to be left alone,” said Democratic Stevens County Auditor Tim Gray, conceding that Republicans may have the edge in that department.

The district’s Democrats also tend to be conservative, however.

“I’m torn between Republicans and Democrats,” said former Pend Oreille County Commissioner Karl McKenzie.

He notes with satisfaction that his tie-breaking vote in January 1994 put state Rep. Cathy McMorris in office. County commissioners had to choose a Republican to fill the House seat Bob Morton vacated that year.

With 40,700 residents, centrally located Stevens County is the core of the 7th District. Other counties fully encompassed by the district are Pend Oreille, population 11,900; Lincoln, population 10,200; and Ferry, population 7,300.

The district also includes portions of Spokane County’s West Plains, and the northeastern corner of Okanogan County. Okanogan County’s largest city, Omak, is part of the district.

The Spokane and Kalispel Indian reservations and much of the Colville reservation also are in the district.

Heavily dependent on the troubled timber and mining industries, 7th District counties have had some of the highest unemployment rates in the state. Double-digit rates are common.

Lincoln County, where farming is the leading industry, is the exception. Unemployment there follows a dependable pattern, ranging from approximately 4 percent in the summer to 7 percent in the winter.

Residents of the mountainous areas that dominate the 7th District often make a hard-scrabble living, but Kerry Burkey, director of the regional state employment office in Colville, believes the economy is improving.

Stevens County, for example, is on the verge of achieving three consecutive months with unemployment below 7 percent for the first time in 10 years.

And this year’s reopening of the Pend Oreille lead-zinc mine in northern Pend Oreille County created 144 industrial jobs in an area that had almost none. Behind Ponderay Newsprint, with 190 workers, the mine is the county’s second-largest industrial employer.

The Kalispel Tribe, based in Pend Oreille County, also is lifting the economy with its Northern Quest casino in Spokane County. The tribe now employs 139 people.

Burkey cites diversification of Stevens County’s economy in recent years and efforts to do so in other parts of the district.

Statistics collected by the Tri-County Economic Development District – which serves Stevens, Pend Oreille and Ferry counties – show timber is still the leading industrial occupation in Stevens County. The Boise, Stimson and Vaagen Bros. mills employ almost 700 people.

But light manufacturing and service industries are increasingly important.

Stove-making Aladdin Hearth Products has 340 workers in Colville. Colmac Industries, which makes heating and cooling coils, employs 150. Hewes Marine Co. has 100 employees, and anticipates growth in its boat-making business.

Also, in the past three years, two new call centers have put 150 people to work in Colville.

“It’s clearly not all gloom and doom,” Burkey said.