Chelan Co. Commission Candidate says Workforce Housing a Top Priority

Anne Hessburg is a candidate for Chelan County Commissioner in District 2.

Hessburg is a professional land use planner and current member of the Leavenworth City Council.

The Chelan County native, who is running as an independent, says she’s held an interest in a seat on the commission for some time and vetted her ability to potentially do the job on several fronts prior to declaring her candidacy.

“Through conversations with residents and community leaders over the course of the last year or so, to check my viability and whether or not my experience would be applicable to the position, I determined that I would be a good candidate for county commissioner.”

Hessburg notes several areas of immediate concern for the county, including the rapidly-increasing need for affordable housing.

“Affordable housing is definitely a top priority of mine. We’re seeing a lot of challenges throughout Chelan County with being able to house our workforce where they’re actually working. And I think that housing can be expanded throughout Chelan County, particularly by incentivizing different types of affordability in housing.”

Hessburg is running against Republican Shon Smith, whom she defeated by less than 300 votes in the August primary.

Hessberg and Smith are both vying for the seat being vacated by Commissioner Bob Bugert, who is retiring and decided not to run for another term after first being elected in 2018.