The Goldendale City Council met last night. Among the items on the agenda was a tribute to the late Bruce Holcomb, of Holcomb’s Market. Mayor Mike Canon read the proclamation that honored him for his civic participation, and concluded with this statement:
“Whereas the City of Goldendale remembers and honors Bruce Holcomb for his commitment and contributions to the City of Goldendale and Klickitat County and be it proclaimed by Mike Canon as mayor on behalf of the Goldendale community, we do hereby declare that August 29, 2020 to be Bruce Holcomb Day in the town of Goldendale, Washington.”
It was a with several arrivals and departures. Former Police Chief Reggie Bartkowski made his final appearance at a Goldendale City Counicil Meeting at which councilors thanked him for his past five years as police chief and wished him well in his new job in Florida. Though Mayor Canon couldn’t resist reminding him that he was heading for a place where hurricane season in waiting. They also welcomed interim chief Jay Hunsaker. Bartkowski said he and Hunsaker have been busy:
“Jay and I have been doing a lot of work these past couple weeks to prepare the police department for a seamless transition for him. We’ve covered a lot of different areas, including civil service files, we’ve been going over the budget, current investigations that are happening, our impress fund, our drug investigtion fun. We’ve really covered a lot of different areas to make this as painless of a transfer as we can.”
Councilors also welcomed a new member. Kevin Feiock (FIE’oak) was the only person to apply, and after a few questions from Mayor Canon, he was unanimously approved to take the place of Jane Roberts, who resigned because she had moved out of Goldendale.
In answer to one of his questions, Felock said that he had spent 20 years in the Navy:
“After retiring from the Navy, I took advantage of the G.I. Bill, and I studied environmental science and earned a bachelors of science degree, which I then used to work at John Day Dam as the environmental guy. I had to leave that job because of a family emergency, which saddened me. I loved the people at John Day. They were wonderful, it was a wonderful job. But in the time that I have spent here, I love this community and just want to see what I can give back.”
Feiock said he’s lived in Goldendale for three years.