Jim Romine has lived in northern Walla Walla County all his life, except for the six years he served in the U.S. Navy.

He was raised in Prescott and is a PHS graduate. He and his wife moved to Waitsburg in 2013, where he serves on the Town Hall Board of Directors and is the Waitsburg Republican precinct committee officer.

Romine said he chose to run for city council because several residents encouraged him to do so.

"I love the people here and would welcome an opportunity to give back to this community," he said.

Romine was a Walla Walla County deputy sheriff for 37 years, prior to his retirement three years ago.

"I have spent a lot of time in Waitsburg and am fortunate to know many residents. During 12 years of my career with the Sheriff's Office I was the commander of the Walla Walla County Jail, managing a budget of over $2 million and supervising 23 employees. I was the Sheriff's Office site manager for the $2.2 million construction remodel of the jail. I have four years experience as mayor of Prescott, where we partnered with Waitsburg in seeking and implementing improvement grants." he said.

Romine said the greatest challenge facing Waitsburg is to maintain city services and plan intelligently for sewer and water system updates, while addressing the impact the increased state minimum wage will have.

"My top priority would be the need to improve Waitsburg's economic footprint and update its infrastructure," he said.