The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON--Norm Passmore is running unopposed for Commissioner Dwight Robanske's seat on the Board of Columbia County Commissioners, representing District 1. Robanske has chosen not to run for re-election.

Passmore was born and raised in Walla Walla, and graduated from Whitman College in 1976.

Following a year working as an adhesive chemist in Seattle, Passmore attended dental school at the Uniiversity of Washington, he said.

After graduating from dental school in 1982, Passmore said that he returned to Walla Walla, where he worked as a dentist for the next fifteen years.

In 1998 Passmore set up his dental practice in Dayton. Two years later, he and his wife Ann moved from Walla Walla to Dayton, and he served the community's dental needs for the next eighteen years, until his retirement in November, 2015, he said.

"I've always felt the need to be active in the community I live in," Passmore said.

In the past, Passmore has served on the board of Project Timothy, on the board of the Dayton Chamber of Commerce, and on the hospital district board of commissioners for six years, he said.

Passmore said he currently serves on the Touchet Valley Arts Council, on the hospital district's finance committee, and on the Downtown Dayton Development Task Force. He also serves as President of the Board of Trustees for the Blue Mountain Community Foundation in Walla Walla, as well as the chairman of the finance committee for the foundation.

Passmore said he looks forward to serving as a commissioner. "I think this is another way I can serve the community. I think they do a good job, that we are in good shape because of the windmills," he said.

If elected, Passmore said he would like to make a few simple changes, including hiring a human resources director for the county, and he said that he looks forward to improved communications between the various county departments.

"I am looking forward to serving our community. Even though I am running unopposed, I would appreciate the community's support, and vote," said Passmore.