.png)
NEWPORT – Brandy Warren, a Newport business owner and longtime community volunteer, is seeking a seat on the Pend Oreille County Board of Commissioners, saying her experience managing businesses and community organizations would help her address the county’s financial challenges.
Warren, a Republican, 46, is challenging incumbent Robert Rosenkrantz, also a Republican. She said she had not considered running for political office until community members began encouraging her about a year ago.
“I am not a politician,” Warren said. “If you asked me 10, 15, 20 years ago if this would ever be on my bingo card for 2026, I would have said absolutely not.”
But Warren said she has frequently taken on leadership roles when community organizations needed help, including the local soccer association and Cub Scouts.
“If I can help, I want to help,” she said. Warren began working for Wells Fargo at 18 and remained with the company until she was 25. She said she became the company’s youngest branch manager in Washington and spent about s even years in Seattle working in commercial, business and private banking.
She eventually left banking and moved to Newport, where she became self-employed. She and her family own Lucky Bee Variety in Newport and Squatchy Scoops and Swirls, a frozen yogurt business in Idaho.
Budget, budget, budget
Warren said her banking background and experience operating small businesses have shaped her approach to county government, particularly budgeting.
Asked about the most important responsibility of a county commissioner, her answer was immediate.
“Budget. Budget, budget, budget,” she said.
Warren compared county finances to a household budget, saying governments cannot continually spend more than they receive without eventually facing difficult consequences.
She also questioned relying on reserves to cover ongoing operating expenses.
“Using your savings account to make a budget is not balancing a budget. That’s using your savings account,” Warren said.
She said the county needs to develop a financial strategy that extends beyond the next budget cycle and considers the services and opportunities future generations will need.
“Failure to plan is planning to fail,” she said.
Warren identified insufficient revenue as one of the county’s central financial problems. She said the closures of major industrial employers, including the Ponderay Newsprint mill and the mine in Metaline Falls, affected not only the employees who lost their jobs but also businesses throughout the county.
As an example, Warren said her own store experienced declining demand for steel-toed boots and other products used by industrial workers after the newsprint mill closed.
She believes attracting light manufacturing and other small industrial operations would help expand the county’s tax base and create jobs.
“I think that the biggest thing we have to do is push for light industry,” she said.
Warren said the county is not necessarily suited for large manufacturing operations, but could benefit from smaller businesses that use locally available resources.
She pointed to the Port of Pend Oreille’s work at the Wolfred Industrial Park as an example of the economic development she would support. Warren said businesses could use wood waste from existing timber operations to manufacture products such as biochar, landscaping materials and wood pellets.
Such businesses could create employment and generate additional tax revenue, she said.
Warren also supports the county’s decision to work with the Port of Pend Oreille as its associate development organization rather than continuing its previous arrangement with the Tri County Economic Development District. She said local economic development efforts should emphasize keeping investment and business activity within Pend Oreille County.
People are county’s biggest asset
While Warren believes county government has opportunities to improve, she praised county employees, road crews and elected officials for their commitment to the community.
She said one of the county’s strengths is its size and the relationships residents have with the people providing public services.
Her approach to leadership, Warren said, emphasizes giving employees responsibility and drawing on their knowledge rather than directing every decision herself.
“Leadership is recognizing in people the skill sets that they have and then bringing all the pieces to the table to put the puzzle together,” she said.
Warren said she takes a similar approach in her businesses and considers one of her greatest professional accomplishments to be never having laid off an employee.
She acknowledged that county commissioners face more difficult budget decisions, potentially including employee furloughs, reduced services or tax increases.
Warren said she would need more information about the county’s finances before identifying specific cuts she would support.
“It’s hard because I don’t have all the information that they’re privy to,” she said.
She said she believes some furloughs may be necessary, depending on how the current commissioners address the budget. She also cautioned against using reserves to cover recurring expenses without addressing the underlying shortfall.
Warren said she would have preferred to see more aggressive economic development efforts in previous years to help reduce the county’s present financial pressures.
Downtown
Beyond industrial development, Warren sees tourism and downtown business activity as opportunities for economic growth.
She supports studying whether Newport’s one-way downtown traffic pattern could be returned to two-way traffic, saying the change could encourage travelers to stop at local businesses rather than pass through town.
Warren acknowledged that such a change would take time and planning.
She also supports development of Wolfred County Park, which she believes could attract visitors while providing recreational opportunities for local families.
Warren said she would like to see a hotel developed in the Newport area, arguing that festivals, youth sports tournaments and other events already bring visitors who could spend more money locally if overnight accommodations were available.
On the county’s handling of the Wolfred County Park planning process, Warren offered a different perspective from residents who have raised concerns about access to information and opportunities for public participation.
She said she has attended parks board, planning and county commissioner meetings and has been able to obtain information about the project, including the forest management plan.
“The process did not seem like it was a secret to me,” Warren said.
She said the park has been discussed at public meetings for years and that county officials have answered her questions.
A commissioner’s role
Warren also addressed whether county commissioners should endorse bond measures proposed by other public agencies.
She said she personally supports the Pend Oreille County hospital district’s proposed bond but does not believe commissioners should tell residents how to vote.
“I will tell you about what I know, and I will tell you how I’m voting, if you ask me,” she said. “But it’s not my job to decide for you.”
Warren said voters must weigh the benefits of public services against their own financial circumstances, particularly as household expenses continue to rise.
Another issue in the campaign has been the future of the former Ponderay Newsprint property, now operated by Merkle Standard, and the possibility of expanding data center operations there.
Warren said she has not reviewed a formal expansion request and would not take a position without more information.
She said the county should evaluate the project’s proposed electricity and water use, infrastructure needs and other effects in comparison with existing and former industrial operations.
“I don’t like to ever pass judgment on things until I have information,” she said.
Warren also addressed questions about her family’s financial connection to Merkle Standard and contributions to her campaign.
Her husband, Steve, works for the company. Warren said he earns approximately $100,000 annually managing employees who maintain its computer equipment.
She disputed suggestions that he holds a senior executive position and said he chose to work locally after the newsprint mill closed rather than accept employment requiring a commute to Spokane.
Warren acknowledged receiving a $1,200 campaign contribution from Ponderay Industries, Merkle Standard’s sister company. She said the contribution was made through her campaign website and was not the result of a meeting or agreement with company representatives.
“I am also not indebted to Ponderay Industries,” Warren said.
She said she has received no promises of financial compensation, gifts or other incentives from outside companies or organizations in connection with her potential election.
Warren also received a $1,200 contribution from Cascade PAC, which she said came through a mentor associated with A League of Our Own, an organization that provides guidance to women interested in political office.
She described herself as the largest financial contributor to her own campaign.
Asked how voters could trust her independence on decisions involving Merkle Standard, Warren said her family has financial interests beyond her husband’s employment, including commercial property she owns in Newport.
She said protecting the community’s long-term economic health and property values is more important to her than preserving any individual job.
Warren said she has no intention of making a lifelong career of
SEE WARREN, 6A elected office. If elected, she expects to serve no more than two terms and hopes to leave the county in a stronger financial position for her successor.
Her goal, she said, is a balanced budget and a county better positioned to support its residents and businesses.
Warren said her years of community involvement provide voters with an opportunity to judge how she would approach public service.
“I’m not a different person sitting in this chair as a candidate than I was when I coached your kid in soccer or when I led their Cub Scout troop,” she said.
“You trusted your children with me. I would hope you can trust your county with me.”
