Commissioner Candidates Focus on Making Government Work

DAYTON - Dwight Richter has been interested in politics all his life. In his role as a local Republican Party leader he has met five presidential candidates, including both presidents Bush.

"I believe that government has gotten too big, and tries to do too much," he said. "But the reality is that the county has been given mandates by both the state and federal governments, the commissioners have to find the best way to meet those in a fiscally responsible way."

One area where Richter wants to focus more attention is public safety. "It's very important that we have well trained and equipped law enforcement," he said. "Having safe roads is also an important part of public safety," he added. This provides not only safety for drivers, but access by emergency personnel, he said.

Richter also said that county government can do a lot to help improve economic development. "Presentation is important, and it is important to have a positive and optimistic attitude," he said, "but I believe it is wrong for government to get into a bidding war to try to attract businesses."

Richter said there is much county government can do to improve the business climate, including making planning and zoning as efficient as possible. He has experience in that area, having served as vicechair on the citizen's review committee for the Columbia County Comprehensive Plan when it was updated in 2002.

"We also need to make sure we have an adequately educated and trained workforce available," Richter said. "The importance of education cannot be overstated."

Richter has spent most of his life in Dayton, but he got to see a lot of the world during the three-plus years he spent in the air force in the late 1960s. He spent more than two years in Maine as an instructor training teams to load nuclear weapons. He also spent about a year in Thailand as a quality control team chief.

"I learned there is no place better than here," he said of his home in Dayton and Columbia County.

Richter has been active in the community. He served as chair of the Columbia County Republican Party for 16 years and is currently state committeeman. He was a District 3 volunteer firefighter for 27 years and is past president of the Columbia County Sheriff's Reserve. He has been active in the Columbia County Motorcycle Club and the Columbia County Snowmobile Club.