Commission hopefuls talk crime, permit process

WAPATO -- Candidates for the Yakima County Commission uniformly cited crime prevention and streamlining county permitting among their priorities in a debate Tuesday evening in this Lower Valley city.

The four candidates for commission District 2, Republican incumbent Ron Gamache, Republican challengers Kevin Bouchey and Dan Olson and Democratic challenger Jesse Farias, were asked about two criminal justice issues -- gang prevention and the prevalence of sex offenders in the county.

Gamache touted the county's efforts at cracking down on gang crime by opening a specific "graffiti pod" at the juvenile justice center and working with state Rep. Charles Ross on anti-gang legislation earlier this year.

On the sex offender question, posed by an audience member through moderator Rob Chandler of Yakima Valley Newspapers, Gamache veered from a pragmatic stance to get-tough rhetoric. The question was about how the county can stop sex offenders from moving to Yakima County.

"A person has a right, after he's served his time, to be a member of society -- that is, if he's completely cured, which may not be possible," Gamache said. "And I don't think it is, either."

Bouchey, a Toppenish farmer, said the key to preventing gang crime is keeping kids busy after school. And the county has to forge some countywide collaborative effort to do that, because it's likely the budget will be tight for the next biennium.

"Some of these things we're going to have to do a little closer to home," he said.

Bouchey passed on the sex offender question, saying he was unaware of a problem with sex offenders moving to Yakima but would look into it.

Olson, a Union Gap councilman, said the county needs to work hard to ensure sex offenders don't come here, a dubious proposition given that there's really nothing a government can do to prevent sex offenders from moving to an area. Olson said he would "harass them, in a sense," so they wouldn't want to live here.

"I guess I shouldn't use that word (harass) -- but make it tough on them," he said.

He maintained his "get tough" stance on the gang issue, too. But he added that education needs to be a big factor in any successful gang prevention effort.

Farias, the mayor of Wapato, joined Bouchey in passing on the sex offender question, saying he didn't know enough about the issue but would look into it. On the gang issue, he commended the work done this year by the state Legislature. But more needs to be done to help parents whose kids may be in gangs, he said. Toward that end, he has set up parent education programs in Wapato that he believes have been successful in helping them spot early warning signs.

"There are a lot of parents who don't know how to identify colors or belt buckles ... or even the graffiti that's on their (kids') notebooks," Farias said.

Besides criminal justice, the county's need to be more efficient in planning and permitting commercial and residential projects was a common priority among the candidates.

"We need to facilitate, not regulate," Olson said.

Bouchey called some of the department's decisions subjective and said he'd already talked to District 1 and 3 commissioners Mike Leita and Rand Elliott about the need to address them.

Gamache said he's personally helped anyone who's called him navigate the permitting process.

And Farias said he has experience streamlining bureaucracy, having reduced the wait for Wapato business permits from 35 days to eight business days during his tenure as mayor.

The candidates will debate again at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Yakima City Hall, alongside candidates for the state Legislature.

* Pat Muir can be reached at 577-7693 or pmuir@yakimaherald.com.