The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

WAITSBURG - Waitsburg voters have another choice for city council.

Grocery clerk and volunteer fire fighter Greg McVey put his name on the ballot for a seat on the five-member body, saying he wants to throw his weight behind Bart Baxter's bid for mayor.

"I would like to see this town grow," said McVey, who has not held an elected position before and was asked by Baxter to run for council. "I think Bart has a lot of great ideas."

At a caucus at Deanne and Larry Johnson's home in Waitsburg last week, current Mayor Walt Gobel and all five councilmen were renominated for their positions. Around the same time last week, Baxter told the Times he was going to run for mayor.

Under its unique Territorial Charter, Waitsburg residents elect their mayor and council every year. The positions go to the top vote getters, so McVey isn't running against any particular incumbent councilman but hopes to have a chance to serve.

"It was a big decision," he said. "I thought about it. I talked to a few people. I know it's a lot of work. But I want to give something back to this community."

McVey and his wife Tawnya made an unsuccessful attempt to get the current council's approval for the siting of a new BMX track on city-owned property. But McVey said that denial has nothing to do with his bid for office and pledged to recuse himself from any discussions or decisions on the matter if he were elected and it came before the council again.

The McVeys moved to Waitsburg from Walla Walla four years ago. They have four kids: Dustin, 17, Katelynn, 14, Bryor, 13, and Kyle, 10.

McVey grew up in Grandview, Wash., a small town near Yakima. He graduated from Grandview High School in 1989 and has held a number of jobs in security, retail and the restaurant industry since then.

He joined the Waitsburg fire district as a volunteer more than three years ago and went to work at the Waitsburg Grocery Store in November.

McVey said when he grew up in Grandview, he saw the nearby towns of Sunnyside and Prosser grow, but his own community stay behind because the town didn't embrace growth with the same vigor as its neighbors.

He doesn't want that to happen to Waitsburg.

"It's a great community to live in," he said. "Everybody knows everybody. Everybody is willing to lend a hand, which is awesome."

Waitsburg also has "awesome" schools, but what it lacks is job opportunities for kids once they graduate.

"The kids are the big thing to me," McVey said. "I'd like to see a lot of things come in for them."

McVey said he and Baxter want to see Main Street buildings full with businesses that provide jobs. One of the ways the city can make Waitsburg attractive as a retail business location is by offering more events that bring in visitors.

Last week, Baxter said he would propose hiring a promotions manager to encourage better use of the town's events assets such as the Fairgrounds. McVey said he fully supports that idea but also hopes to learn more about the kinds of tourism development efforts Waitsburg residents want to see.

"What do the people in this town want?" he asked.

McVey will be the sixth council candidate on the ballot for the April 4 elections. The others are incumbent councilmen Marty Dunn, Orville Branson, Scott Nettles, Kevin House and Karl Newell.