Hover cites first-term achievements in bid for second term

WINTHROP – When incumbent Okanogan County Commissioner, District 2 Andy Hover, assumed his first term on Jan. 1, 2016, he already had a plateful of issues he wanted to address, among them the county budget and the newly passed Hirst Decision in which the state supreme court mandated that counties balance water resources with property development. It was also a year after the county survived the state’s two largest back-to-back wildfire disasters, the 2014 Carlton Complex Wildfire and the even larger 2015 Okanogan Complex Wildfire and was struggling to deal with the aftermath.

The one thing Hover did not need was another, even bigger, crisis like, say, a national pandemic.

Six months into the COVID-19 disaster Hover is campaigning for another term, while helping guide residents, businesses, and health care providers through the changing economic and public safety landscape created by the coronavirus outbreak. He did pause long enough to reflect on what he considers his major achievements over the past three-and-a-half years.

County budget

“When I came into office the county budget that was not of my making had a $3 million loan attached to it to cover first quarter liquidity,” said Hover. “I am the budget lead and three years later we have a $1.5 million surplus.”

Hover said one of the ways he helped create the surplus was through gaining a level of trust within the county departments and encouraging wise use of taxpayer dollars.

“I told them they could budget tight,” said Hover, “and if they later ended up needing help they could come to the commissioners.”

Contract negotiations

Hover also tackled a six-figure legal expense the county was paying for labor issues.

“When I came aboard the county was spending $200,000 on lawyers for labor negotiations,” said Hover. “I asked to take it over.”

Hover said he became educated on the process and now feels comfortable negotiating the county’s position not only on labor union contracts but for other county business as well.

Fair infrastructure

Hover said he developed a relationship with the Okanogan County Fair Advisory Committee (FAC) to demonstrate that the commissioners supported the fair as the FAC pursued upgrades to the rodeo arena and racetrack.

“I commend those folks who built the original track railing; it lasted a long time, but it was getting so dangerous we felt we couldn’t run a horse on it,” said Hover. “When the state put out a safety grant for fairs, I jumped on it.”

The grant for $80,000 from the Washington State Department of Agriculture required the county to match 50 percent which it did plus considerably more from the Capital Facilities Program. Working with the FAC and Rodeo Committee chairman Sam Buchert the fairgrounds is now home to a new racetrack and rodeo arena. The Pro-West Rodeo cowboys who know an efficient operation when they see one, gave the new arena their 2017 and 2018 Rodeo of the Year awards.

COVID adjustments

Hover said the COVID pandemic has slowed down much of the county administrative process that requires continuous and efficient communication. And while virtual meetings have replaced the face-to-face kind everyone is making the best of what is available.

On the positive side Hover said one benefit of having used platforms like Zoom is that the commission has concluded that it has proved to be a future tool to get county residents to participate in commission meetings.

Hover said the pandemic has had little effect on the county’s sale tax dollars because much of that comes from an essential business base.

“What were really hurt were small businesses, restaurants, hair salons,” said Hover. “Lodging tax dollars took a big hit. I’m on the Lodging Tax Committee. We had to reduce payouts to all of our recipients by 50 percent to make sure the county had cash for everyone.”

Hover expects the county will be dealing with the downturn for the next two years.

Public health

Hover said public health will be one of his main issues during his second term.

“They have been able to do a lot with limited funds,” said Hover. “I’ve been working with them on budgets for the past two years and trying to get more support for them through the state.”

Adjusting the plan to meet new challenges and opportunities is a large port of Hover’s philosophy.

“After-action reports are big for me,” said Hover. “You know you’ll make mistakes along the way, but you have a better plan by learning from them.”

Hover hosts a Meet & Greet for public questions and conversation at 7 p.m. every Wednesday on his Facebook campaign website AndyHover2020.