Who governs Eastern Washington
Every governing body we track east of the Cascade crest, what it decides, and where to follow it.
31 bodies tracked. Eastern Washington has twenty counties, hundreds of cities and districts, and three sovereign tribal governments in this list alone. No count of the region's total governing bodies has been run, so this page does not claim a denominator. It is a working directory, not a census.
Every body below gets its own page, and we are publishing them a few at a time. This page is the complete directory: who they are and what they decide. Where a body's name is linked, its page is up, carrying its schedule, its portals, its comment rules and what we have not confirmed about it. Where it is not linked yet, it is being written.
Counties
Washington counties are run by an elected board of commissioners. Commissioners adopt the county budget, set county ordinances, control land use in unincorporated areas, and oversee county departments. Commissioners serve four-year terms, set by RCW 36.32.030.
| County | Body | Seats | Members verified |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spokane | Board of County Commissioners (official) | 5, by district | Chris Jordan (1), Amber Waldref (2), Josh Kerns (3), Mary Brooks (4, 2026 Chair), Al French (5) |
| Yakima | Board of County Commissioners (official) | 3, by district | Amanda McKinney (1), Kyle Curtis (2), LaDon Linde (3) |
| Benton | Board of County Commissioners (official) | 3, by district | Jerome Delvin (1), Michael Alvarez (2), Will McKay (3) |
| Franklin | Board of County Commissioners (official) | 3, by district | Stephen Bauman (1), Rocky Mullen (2), Clint Didier (3) |
| Walla Walla | Board of County Commissioners (official) | 3, by district | Bertha J. Clayton (1), Todd L. Kimball (2, 2026 Chair), Gunner Fulmer (3) |
| Grant | Board of County Commissioners (official) | 3, by district | Kevin R. Burgess (1, 2026 Chair), Rob Jones (2), Cindy Carter (3) |
| Chelan | Board of County Commissioners (official) | 3, by district | Kevin Overbay (1), Shon Smith (2), Brad Hawkins (3) |
Spokane County runs five commissioners where the others here run three. If you are used to a three-member board, the arithmetic of a Spokane County vote is different.
Grant County publishes a direct phone number for each commissioner, which no other county here does: Burgess 509-770-9855, Jones 509-770-9848, Carter 509-885-5933.
Benton County meets in two places. On the 1st, 3rd and 4th Tuesdays it sits at the Courthouse in Prosser, and on the second Tuesday of each month it sits in Kennewick. See when they meet and the Benton County page, which records the two different cadence statements the county publishes.
Cities
| City | Body | Structure | Members verified |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spokane | City Council (official) | 7: a Council President elected at large, plus 2 members from each of 3 districts. Separately elected Mayor. | President Betsy Wilkerson; Michael Cathcart and Sarah Dixit (1); Paul Dillon and Kate Telis (2); Kitty Klitzke and Zack Zappone (3). Mayor Lisa Brown. |
| Spokane Valley | City Council (official) | Not established | Not established |
| Yakima | City Council (official) | 7, by district. Mayor chosen from the council. | Leo Roy (1), Felisa Gonzalez (2), Patricia Byers (3), Juliet Potrykus (4), Rick Glenn (5), Matt Brown (6, Mayor), Reedy Berg (7, Assistant Mayor) |
| Kennewick | City Council (official) | 7: 3 wards plus 4 at large. "The Mayor is appointed by its members." | Mayor Jason McShane (Ward 1); Mayor Pro Tem Chuck Torelli (At Large 5); Loren Anderson (Ward 2); John Trumbo (Ward 3); Brad Klippert (At Large 4); Brad Beauchamp (At Large 6); Jim Millbauer (At Large 7) |
| Richland | City Council (portal) | Not established | Not established. See note below. |
| Pasco | City Council (official) | 7: 6 districts plus 1 at large | Mayor Charles Grimm (District 2); Mayor Pro-Tem David Milne (District 5) |
| Walla Walla | City Council (portal) | Not established | Not established |
| Wenatchee | City Council (official) | Not established | Not established |
| Pullman | City Council (official) | 7: 1 at large plus 2 from each of 3 wards, and a Mayor | Mayor Benjamin; Eric Fejeran (At Large); Bryan MacDonald and Ann Parks (Ward 1); Nathan Weller and Trevor Vance (Ward 2); Pat Wright and Tawny Szumlas (Ward 3) |
| Moses Lake | City Council (official) | 7, by numbered position. Council-manager government: City Manager Rob Karlinsey. Mayor sits on the Council. | Jeremy Davis (1), Mayor Dustin Swartz (2), Deputy Mayor Don Myers (3), Mark Fancher (4), Joel Graves (5), Victor Lombardi (6), David Skaug (7) |
| Ephrata | City Council (official) | 7 council positions plus a Mayor listed separately. City Administrator Ray Towry. | Mayor Steve Oliver; James Mathis (1), Kathleen Harris (2), Mayor Pro Tem Matt Moore (3), Valli Millard (4), Beau Lamens (5), Phil Borck (6), Mike Warren (7) |
| Quincy | City Council (official) | 7, by numbered position | Josey Ferguson (1), Jeff Spence (2), Tom Harris (3), Andrew Royer (4), Dave Dormier (5), Jim Kling (6), Dylan Kling (7). Mayor not established. |
Moses Lake is the only council-manager city confirmed here. Its day-to-day executive is a City Manager appointed by the Council, not the Mayor, which changes who you take a complaint to. Yakima, Kennewick and Pasco choose a mayor from among the councilmembers; Spokane elects one separately.
Spokane is the only strong-mayor city here that we confirmed. Lisa Brown is elected separately from the council and does not sit on it. Yakima, Kennewick and Pasco all choose a mayor from among the councilmembers, which means the person called "mayor" there holds one vote of seven.
Richland's roster is blank on purpose. A City Council agenda from September 2025 names a "Mayor Richardson" presiding, but a general election intervened in November 2025 and we could not retrieve richlandwa.gov to confirm who holds the seat now. Naming a mayor who has left office is worse than naming none.
Pullman's mayor is listed as "Mayor Benjamin" on the city's own council page, with no first name given there. We have not published one.
School districts
| District | Body | Members verified | Superintendent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spokane Public Schools | Board of Directors (official) | Not established | Not established |
| Yakima School District No. 7 | Board of Directors (official) | Norm Walker (President, Position 3), Ryan Beckett (Vice President, Position 2), Martha Rice (Legislative Representative, Position 5), Raymond Navarro Jr. (Position 4), Pam Shelton (Position 1) | Not established |
| Pasco School District | Board of Directors (official) | Scott Lehrman (President), Steve Norberg (Vice President), John Kennedy, Amanda Brown, Heather Kubalek | Not established |
| Kennewick School District | Board of Directors (official) | Gabe Galbraith (President, Position 2), Micah Valentine (Vice President, Position 1), Michael Connors (Position 3), Brittany Gledhill (Legislative Representative, Position 4), Josh Miller (Position 5) | Lance Hansen |
| Moses Lake School District | Board of Directors (official) | Amy Breitenstein (1), Paul Hill (Vice-Chair, 2), Carla Urias (3), Michael Nordsten (4), Kirryn Jensen (Board Chair, 5) | Not established |
| Wenatchee School District | Board of Directors (official) | Julie Norton (1), Maria Iñiguez (Vice President, 2), Tucker Jackson (President, 3), Mark Belton (4), Caroline Siderius (5) | Not established |
Every school board here runs five seats. Kennewick and Yakima both designate one member as "Legislative Representative", which is the seat that carries district positions to Olympia. Kennewick also seats student representatives.
Wenatchee School District is the only body here that sets everything in one instrument. Its cadence, its dark months, its agenda deadline, its speaker cap and its standing Spanish interpretation are all in a single adopted board policy, and the 1000 series it belongs to is published in English and in Spanish. Everywhere else these facts are scattered across a web page, an agenda footer and a code chapter, if they are written down at all.
Public utility districts
Washington PUDs are separately elected governments, not county departments. They set electricity rates, approve capital plans, and in these two counties they own and operate dams. They are on this page for the same reason the tribal governments are: they are governments, and coverage that files them as utilities will miss what they decide.
Both use two term lengths on one commission, and both run longer than a county commissioner's four years under RCW 36.32.030.
| District | Body | Structure | Members verified |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grant County | PUD Commission (official) | 5, "elected on a nonpartisan basis by the people of Grant County". Two at-large seats on four-year terms, three district seats on six-year terms, staggered so two are elected every two years. | Larry Schaapman (President, District #3), Judy Wilson (Vice President, District #1), Nelson Cox (Secretary, B-At Large), Tom Flint (A-At Large), Terry Pyle (District #2) |
| Chelan County | PUD Commission (official) | 5 from three commissioner districts. Three district seats on six-year terms, two at-large seats on four-year terms, one of each elected every two years. | Kelly Allen (President, at-large District B), Randy Smith (Vice-President, District 2), Steve McKenna (Secretary, at-large District A), Garry Arseneault (District 1), Carnan Bergren (District 3) |
Grant County PUD is where the data-center power question gets decided. The Quincy City Council governs land use in the town where Amazon Web Services and Microsoft run data center operations; this commission prices and delivers the electricity those buildings draw.
Chelan County PUD names Rocky Reach Dam, Rock Island Dam and Lake Chelan Dam as its hydropower facilities on its own pages, alongside FERC licensing and compliance.
A six-year term is the longest elected term tracked in this guide. A Grant or Chelan PUD district commissioner faces voters half as often as the county commissioners in the same county.
Tribal governments
These are sovereign governments, not community organizations. Each has its own constitution, its own council, and jurisdiction over its own territory. They are listed here alongside counties and cities because that is what they are.
Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation
Governed by a 14-member Tribal Council: five officers plus nine members. Seated at 401 Fort Road, Toppenish, WA 98948, (509) 865-5121. Fourteen bands are confederated, the reservation runs to 1,130,000 acres, and the Nation's authority rests on the Treaty of 1855, signed 9 June 1855 and ratified 8 March 1859.
- Tribal Council Chairman: Gerald Lewis. Vice-Chairman George Meninick Sr., Secretary Christopher Wallahee, Assistant Secretary Jeremy Takala, Sergeant at Arms Brian Saluskin. Members: Deland Olney, Arnold Eyle, Ralph Sampson Jr., Ruth Jim, Terry Goudy-Rambler, JoDe Goudy, John Washines, BazilLu WindyBoy, Stephen Selam. Source: yakama.com, corroborated by the Washington Governor's Office of Indian Affairs directory, updated 14 July 2026.
There is also a General Council, and it is a different body with a different chairman. The General Council is all enrolled members aged 18 and over. Its officers are Chairman Leland Bill, Vice-Chairwoman Debra Byrd and Secretary Starla Moses-Hypieer, and it keeps its own site at yngeneralcouncil.com. Confusing the General Council chairman with the Tribal Council chairman is the single easiest mistake to make about this government, and readers notice it immediately.
Meeting cadence, agendas, minutes and video: not established.
Spokane Tribe of Indians
Governed by the Spokane Tribal Business Council, five members, seated at 6195 Ford-Wellpinit Road, Wellpinit, WA 99040, (509) 458-6500.
- Chairman: Greg Abrahamson. Vice-Chairman Danny Kieffer, Secretary Monica Tonasket, Council Members Tiger Peone and James Rima. Source: spokanetribe.com, corroborated by the GOIA directory.
The Tribe states that "The Spokane Tribal Business Council reports to the General Membership", and that a General Council meeting is held each spring and each autumn for the council to update the membership. Business Council meeting cadence, agendas, minutes and video: not established.
Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation
Governed by the Colville Business Council, seated at 21 Colville Street, Nespelem, WA 99155, (509) 634-2200. Twelve bands are confederated across 1.4 million acres, with a tribal enrolment of 9,086.
- Chairwoman: Cindy Marchand, Inchelium District Representative. Vice-Chairwoman Karen Condon (Omak); Secretary Storey Jackson (Keller). Source: Get to know your Council, corroborated by the GOIA directory, updated 14 July 2026.
- Fourteen councilmen across four legislative districts: Inchelium 4, Nespelem 4, Omak 4, Keller 2. Two-year terms, with elections every year. Set by the Tribes' Constitution, Article II sections 2 and 3, and Article III section 1.
The chair was previously recorded here as confirmed only from the state directory, because cct-cbc.com did not display it. The Tribes' other site does. Two official sites, two different answers to "who is the chair", and only one was checked first time.
This is by a distance the most publicly documented of the three. Its by-laws fix regular sessions on the second Thursday of January, April, July and October; it publishes a standing committee calendar; it holds district meetings in Keller, Nespelem, Inchelium and Omak; it streams sessions; and it keeps a resolution index running from 2000 to 2026 at cct-cbc.com.
The state
Washington State Legislature, a bicameral body sitting in Olympia, on the far side of the Cascades from everyone this guide is written for. Its budget decisions, water and agriculture policy, and Hanford oversight land here whether or not the coverage does.
49 legislative districts. 98 representatives on two-year terms, 49 senators on four-year terms. It convenes annually on the second Monday of January under RCW 44.04.010, and the state Constitution at Article II, section 12 caps a regular session at not more than 105 consecutive days in odd years and 60 in even years. Bills, committee schedules and testimony sign-in all run through leg.wa.gov; proceedings are carried by TVW.
Not yet tracked
Thirteen more counties: Douglas, Okanogan, Stevens, Whitman, Adams, Lincoln, Kittitas, Klickitat, Asotin, Ferry, Pend Oreille, Columbia and Garfield. Every other incorporated city, including Ellensburg, Sunnyside, Toppenish, Grandview, Colville, Clarkston, Othello, Cheney and Liberty Lake. Most school districts. Every planning commission. Every port, every remaining public utility district, and every hospital district, fire district, irrigation district and conservation district.
Grant and Chelan counties were a hole in this page and are now covered. Both county commissions, the Moses Lake, Ephrata and Quincy city councils, the Moses Lake and Wenatchee school boards, and both county PUD commissions were added on 2026-08-16: nine bodies, taking the total from 22 to 31.
Verified 2026-08-15. Every name and structure above was checked against the body's own site, or against the Washington Governor's Office of Indian Affairs directory where noted, on that date. The government's own page is authoritative.