Pasco woman announces run for Franklin County Commission

PASCO, Wash.-- Standing across from the Franklin County Courthouse Friday afternoon, Pasco resident Ana Ruiz announced that she plans to run for the District 2 seat on the Franklin County Commission.

Ruiz has lived in Pasco permanently since 2009, and may be best known for co-founding the Pasco Taco Crawl, an annual fundraiser to benefit the Tri-Cities chapter of the Boys and Girls Club.

However, Ruiz also played a key role in establishing the Colima-Pasco Friendship Agreement, establishing an cooperative relationship with the city of Colima in Mexico. She is an Executive Committee member for Somos Pasco Economic Development Strategic Vision, and once served on the Washington State Commission on Hispanic affairs.

The mother of three says it's important for Commissioners to hear the voices of everyone in the community.

As the current Chair of Tri-Cities Community Health, Ruiz says she's been disappointed in the response of Commissioners when they had the opportunity to help pay for a feasibility study to look at using the old Kennewick General Hospital building in Kennewick as a drug and alcohol treatment center.

"It's something that community-- we all know that it's needed," Ruiz said. "The Commissioners do have funding, it's part of the funding that they are able to allocate. Working with stakeholders to properly fund a recovery center is something that is very, very necessary."

Ruiz is running as a Democrat for the District 2 seat being vacated by long-time Republican Commissioner Bob Koch, who is the current chair of the Commission. Koch tells Newsradio 610 KONA that after 16 years on the Board of Commissioners, he does not plan to run for reelection, however, Rocky Mullen is expected to run for the seat as a Republican.