The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON-Columbia County Commissioner Dwight Robanske is calling it quits after 16 years of service to the county. Robanske said there have been many ups and downs during that time, but he has mainly enjoyed working with the citizens and employees of Columbia County.

Robanske said his interest in promoting economic development in the county and in Dayton was the reason he ran for a seat on the board in 2000.

"I served on the Dayton Economic Development Steering Committee with Jennie Dickinson in 2004," Robanske said. "We pushed hard for economic development.

"The County was struggling. Revenues were down. We laid off seven people and were looking for an avenue to increase revenue sources," he explained.

"We met with those folks at RES and gave them tours," Robanske said about working with Renewable Energy Systems, the wind farm construction firm.

"We were fortunate to get the windmills. Each windmill farm added $240 million in increases to property values," Robanske said.

Robanske said a special passion of his was to decrease juvenile incarceration rates in the county.

"There were 60 to 70 juvenile incarcerations a year," Robanske said. "I tried to develop a plan to reduce that."

Robanske said that he worked with the school district to get Americorps volunteers in place in the hours after school, and that helped.

"More recently I have worked with the after-school program to keep youth active in the after school hours," said Robanske, pointing to a dramatic decrease in juvenile incarceration rates. "It is half of what it was when I came on board as a commissioner," he said.

Robanske said he also enjoyed representing the county as a member of the Dayton Columbia Fund.

"We helped with scholarships, The Missoula Children's Theater, and other things to benefit the community," he said.

Robanske also pointed to his role in helping developmentally disabled people receive training for employment through the Lily Rice Center in Walla Walla.

For roughly 13 of his 16 years in office, Richard Jones and Chuck Reeves shared the commission with Robanske.

"It was a great time," Robanske said. "We really worked well together. They were great members of the commission to be associated with."

Robanske said the hardest part of being a commissioner has been the lack of state funding for the county after passage of the $30 license plate tab initiative in 2006.

The county received an annual amount of $2.3 million before that initiative passed, Robanske said. State funding for the county is now $640,000, he said.

"We continue to not be funded," Robanske said. "The county has more expenses than revenue. This year it's concerning because layoffs are possible," he said.

Don't expect Robanske to rest on his laurels anytime soon after he retires from the BOCC. "I hope to do more traveling," he said.

Robanske plans to visit his daughter's family in Lawrenceville, Georgia sometime in the near future. And he will be around town, and at the golf course, when he isn't working on his place, he added.

A retirement party for Robanske is planned for Dec. 19 from 1 to 3 p.m. in the commissioners' office at the courthouse.