Grace City Church Pastor Interviews Chelan County Commissioner Candidates
Pastor Josh McPherson tried to get the candidates to affirm his belief that the 'government should submit to the moral law of God,' then discussed his real estate and construction deals
Grace City Church “planter” and Executive Pastor Josh McPherson interviewed Chelan County Commissioner candidates Flint Hartwig and Brad Hawkins this month in his new studio on GCC’s Sunnyslope compound ahead of the Nov. 5 elections.
Hartwig owns Eider Construction in the Wenatchee Valley. Hawkins is currently a state senator who has represented Washington’s 12th District in Olympia for two terms. Earlier this year, he pulled out of his bid for a third term in the Senate to run for county commissioner. The two are vying for Tiffany Gering’s spot on the commission and both Gering and current County Commissioner Shon Smith have endorsed Hartwig.
During the nearly two-hour discussion, Hartwig and McPherson did most of the talking and the two commiserated about their shared dislike of the Chelan County Community Development Department, the “nameless, faceless bureaucracy” that keeps good men down, government regulations and taxes.
McPherson also shared more details about his real estate and construction deals.
I have covered those before and you can read about a multimillion dollar project called “Freedom Hills” he was involved in here:
But before they got into that, McPherson attempted to get the candidates to affirm his belief that government exists within a theocratic hierarchy.
“Where do you draw your sense of moral authority from? I’ll just put my cards on the table. I believe that the government should submit to the moral law of God,” he said.
Then he motioned to Hawkins to answer the question. However, the candidate demurred and instead answered a question McPherson had previously put to Hartwig, which was “What do the county commissioners do?”
Throughout Hawkins’ detailed answer, McPherson interjected with follow up questions that revealed a lack of knowledge about how the county commission functions, and seemed surprised by some of the answers.
“Here’s a question: Do you have to live in the district you’re running for?” he asked.
McPherson also didn’t seem to know the county’s budget, where that money comes from or that the county commissioners are paid.
You can watch that clip here:
Then they got into the construction industry, the “petty tyrants” who run the county departments and Hartwig praised the wisdom of throwing folks who are high or drunk in public into “an abandoned water tank.”