Election: Hanford Patrol vet, PNNL scientist vie for Richland council seat
Richland voters will choose between Kyle Saltz and Mary S. Lipton for an open City Council seat. Both candidates discussed whether the city should impose a moratorium on data centers, with the city citing a binding agreement with Atlas Agro North America as a reason it rejected the idea; both candidates emphasized safeguards for energy, water, utility costs and environmental impacts.
Richland voters will select a council member in a Nov. 3 special election between Kyle Saltz, a Hanford Patrol employee and military veteran, and Mary S. Lipton, a biochemist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The winner will complete the term of late Councilman Donald Landsman, which runs through 2029.
The candidates differ on how to approach data center development. Lipton said she is open to discussing a moratorium to give the city more time to assess energy and water demand, utility costs and other impacts. Saltz initially supported a moratorium but changed his position after learning it could breach the city’s agreement with Atlas Agro North America, which plans a fertilizer plant and data center; he instead favors safeguards addressing noise, pollution, public safety, utility costs and environmental concerns.